Takeda Pharmaceutical will apply Poseida Therapeutics’ technologies to develop up to eight gene therapies including a Hemophilia A candidate under development by Poseida, through a collaboration that could generate more than $3.6 billion for the San Diego cell and gene therapy developer.
Under a research collaboration and exclusive license agreement inked by the companies this week, Takeda will use Poseida’s piggyBac, Cas-CLOVER, biodegradable DNA and RNA nanoparticle delivery technology, and other genetic engineering platforms toward developing the nonviral, in vivo gene therapies.
The companies have agreed to develop an initial six gene therapy candidates, with Takeda holding an option to add two more programs to the collaboration. Poseida agreed to lead research activities through candidate selection, with Takeda agreeing to oversee further development and commercialization. Takeda will provide funding for all collaboration program R&D costs.
“This partnership reinforces Takeda’s commitment to investing in next-generation gene therapy approaches that have the potential to deliver functional cures to patients with rare genetic and hematologic diseases,” Takeda Rare Diseases Drug Discovery Unit Head, Madhu Natarajan, PhD, said Tuesday in a statement. “We look forward to partnering with Poseida where we can apply our broad development capabilities to help progress several early-stage preclinical programs.”
Takeda has also agreed to pay Poseida $45 million upfront, plus more than $3.6 billion tied to achieving clinical development, regulatory, and commercial milestones for all eight programs—including up to $2.7 billion for the initial six programs, starting with $125 million in preclinical milestones for all six. Poseida is also eligible for tiered royalties that rise into double digits.
“Ultra-precise”
“We are excited to partner with Takeda, a global biopharmaceutical leader whose commitment to the development of novel therapies for rare diseases complements our innovative platform technologies and robust gene therapy pipeline,” stated Poseida CEO Eric Ostertag, MD, PhD. “Our technologies offer highly efficient gene delivery, fully integrated nonviral genome insertion, and ultra-precise site-specific gene editing.”
Takeda’s collaboration with Poseida is the company’s second gene therapy partnership exceeding $1 billion to be launched this month—and the Japanese pharma’s third gene therapy alliance launched since August.
On October 4, Selecta Biosciences announced that its ImmTOR™ platform, designed to enable redosing, would be used by Takeda to develop up to two gene therapies for lysosomal storage disorders. Takeda agreed to pay Watertown, MA-based Selecta an undisclosed upfront payment, up to $1.124 billion in payments tied to achieving commercial milestones, or Takeda opting to continue its activities at specified development stages.
News of the Poseida collaboration did not move Poseida’s stock price significantly. Shares inched up 1% to $6.75 in trading as of 2:44 p.m. ET, after closing Tuesday at $6.68, barely budging from Monday’s close of $6.65.
Takeda shares have likewise been relatively flat, closing Wednesday at JPY 3,225 ($28.43) on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, having fallen last week 11.5% after the company suspended dosing and halted two Phase II trials of oral orexin agonist TAK-994 in narcolepsy.
