Poseida Therapeutics Enters into Partnership with Astellas Subsidiary Xyphos

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Poseida Therapeutics announced that it has entered into a partnership with Xyphos, a wholly owned subsidiary of Astellas.¹ The two companies will work together to develop a type of cancer treatment known as convertibleCAR. Each company is providing its own therapy platform to the partnership.

Poseida’s pipeline includes cell and gene therapies for both solid and liquid tumors. Xyphos’ pipeline, meanwhile, includes the convertibleCAR therapies, which are used alongside its ACCEL technology.

In a press release, Poseida president and CEO Kristin Yarema, Ph.D., said, “We are excited to expand our relationship with Astellas, where we share a vision that cutting edge, off the shelf cell therapies can address significant unmet needs of patients with solid tumor malignancies. Today's agreement further reinforces the economic value of Poseida's highly differentiated non-viral technologies and enables development in areas beyond our core pipeline focus. It also highlights Poseida's role as the partner of choice in allogeneic CAR-T."

In the same press release, Astellas’ chief strategy officer Adam Pearson said, “At Astellas, we have a strong commitment to developing novel treatments for patients with cancer and have positioned Immuno-Oncology as a Primary Focus of our R&D strategy*2. By leveraging our extensive expertise, experience in cancer biology and unique technologies, we are focused on reinvigorating the immune system's ability to discover, disarm and destroy cancers in more patients. By combining the ACCELTM platform with Poseida's elegant and cutting-edge genetic editing platforms, we believe the collaboration will bring synergies between the two companies' breakthrough research and will ultimately lead to expansion of Astellas' portfolio and to delivery of innovative CAR-T cell therapies to cancer patients."

This is the latest move by Poseida to put gene therapy front and center.

In April of this year, the company announced that it would be hosting a gene-therapy R&D day.² During the event, Poseida showed off recent scientific advancements in the area.

In a press release issued ahead of the event, Poseida’s president and CEO Kristin Yarema, Ph.D., said, “Poseida is forging ahead with a renewed focus on our genetic medicine portfolio. Our system of proprietary, non-viral tools used individually or together has the capacity to treat rare genetic diseases as well as address much more prevalent diseases. In the short-term, we are laser-focused on progressing our two lead non-viral candidates within areas of significant opportunity: P-KLKB1-101 for Hereditary Angioedema, and P-FVIII-101, which utilizes our fully non-viral stable gene insertion technique to treat Hemophilia A, a condition affecting approximately 30,000 adults and children in the U.S. alone."

Poseida’s chief scientific officer of gene therapy Blair Madison, Ph.D., added, “Poseida has developed a broad suite of fully non-viral, differentiated genetic engineering technologies, including stable, potentially site-specific insertion of whole genes, high-fidelity gene editing, and strength in delivery systems including lipid nanoparticles. We believe this uniquely positions us in the industry to deliver on the hope and promise of genetic medicines and bring much-needed therapies to patients in need."

Sources

1. Astellas and Poseida Therapeutics Enter Into Research Collaboration and License Agreement to Develop Novel Allogeneic Cell Therapies in Oncology. Poseida Therapeutics, Inc. May 1, 2024. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/astellas-and-poseida-therapeutics-enter-into-research-collaboration-and-license-agreement-to-develop-novel-allogeneic-cell-therapies-in-oncology-302133127.html
2. Poseida Therapeutics Hosts Gene Therapy R&D Day Highlighting New Scientific Advancements and Pipeline Focus. Poseida Therapeutics, Inc. April 17, 2024. Accessed May 1, 2024. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/poseida-therapeutics-hosts-gene-therapy-rd-day-highlighting-new-scientific-advancements-and-pipeline-focus-302118861.html