HQ Team
June 9, 2023: AstraZeneca, a British-Swedish pharmaceutical company, has signed a deal, worth more than $2 billion, with Quell Therapeutics to develop cell therapies for treating autoimmune diseases.
Quell, a private biotechnology company based in London, will get $85 million upfront from AstraZeneca, which comprises a predominant cash payment and an equity investment, according to a statement.
Quell will be eligible to receive over $2 billion for further development and commercialization milestones if successful, plus tiered royalties.
In addition, Quell retains an option, which can be exercised either after approval of an Investigational New Drug application or at the end of phase I or II clinical studies.
Co-development
The option is to co-develop cell therapies with AstraZeneca in the US in exchange for additional milestone payments and increased royalties on US net sales.
According to the terms, Quell Therapeutics and AstraZeneca will develop multiple engineered T-regulator (Treg) cell therapies that have the potential to be curative in type 1 diabetes and inflammatory bowel disease indications.
AstraZeneca will have the option to further develop and commercialize successful clinical candidates in type I diabetes and inflammatory bowel disease.
In 2021, there were about 8·4 million individuals worldwide with type 1 diabetes. Of these 1·5 million were younger than 20 years, 5·4 million were aged 20–59 years, and 1·6 million were aged 60 years or older, according to a study published in the Lancet.
Non-diagnosed individuals
In that year there were 0·5 million new cases diagnosed — the median age of onset 29 years — about 35 000 non-diagnosed individuals died within 12 months of symptomatic onset. One-fifth, or 1·8 million, of individuals with type 1 diabetes were in low-income and lower-middle-income countries.
Iain McGill, Chief Executive Officer of Quell Therapeutics, said AstraZeneca would help accelerate the application of the company’s Treg cell therapy platform.
“We believe there is a broad opportunity to reset immune tolerance and drive durable responses for patients.”
Mene Pangalos, Executive Vice President, BioPharmaceuticals R&D at AstraZeneca, said the pact would help his company to expand its next-generation “therapeutic toolbox.”
“This is aligned with our strategy to target underlying disease drivers to stop or slow disease progression and ultimately accelerate the delivery of transformative care to patients with chronic autoimmune conditions.”
