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Arovella has entered into a global, exclusive license with Sparx Group to develop a world-first iNKT cell therapy targeting a validated target, Claudin 18.2 (CLDN18.2), which is expressed in gastric cancers (GC), gastroesophageal junction cancers (GEJC) and pancreatic Cancer (PC).
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Equity-based upfront licencing fee and future stage-gated fees with industry-standard milestone payments in cash and equity.
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Licensed technology is based on Sparx’s Phase 1 ready CLDN18.2 antibody, SPX-101, which has shown to outperform zolbetuximab in internal preclinical studies, and has an open IND with the FDA.
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Zolbetuximab (Astellas Pharma Inc.) is expected to be the first CLDN18.2-targeting therapy available for GC/GEJC, with FDA approval expected in January 2024
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The intellectual property has long-life, is granted in the US and has been filed in other major territories worldwide (inc. Europe, Japan, China and South Korea).
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Arovella’s CLDN18.2-iNKT cells will be the only off-the-shelf CAR-iNKT cell therapy being developed for this target and will significantly increase the value of Arovella’s pipeline
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CLDN18.2-iNKT cells with direct cancer-killing ability are expected to provide superior cancer killing properties relative to an antibody alone.
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Arovella’s potential market for an FDA approved CLDN18.2-targeting product is supported by Astellas’ forecast peak annual sales for zolbetuximab which are US$0.6-1.3 billion.
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