Adaptimmune & Alpine Immune Sciences Announce Collaboration & License Agreement

Adaptimmune Therapeutics plc and Alpine Immune Sciences, Inc. recently announced a collaboration and license agreement to develop next-generation SPEAR T-cell products that incorporate Alpine’s secreted and transmembrane immunomodulatory protein (termed SIP and TIP) technology. This collaboration will further enhance Adaptimmune’s efforts to design and develop next-generation SPEAR T-cell therapies.

“SPEAR T-cell therapies have demonstrated clinical promise for the treatment of solid tumors. Based on knowledge emerging from translational research of resistance mechanisms, we will start our first next-gen clinical study with ADP-A2M4CD8 in the second half of 2019,” said Rafael Amado, Adaptimmune’s President of R&D. “We are very excited to begin this collaboration with Alpine, which complements our research on next-generation SPEAR T-cells. We believe that Alpine’s platform technology could engage further rapid and flexible immunomodulatory mechanisms, which would enable the development of future next-generation SPEAR T-cells with enhanced anti-tumor potential.”

“Our directed evolution platform has successfully generated many unique, multi-functional protein domains designed to favorably modulate the tumor microenvironment via validated immune targets,” added Stanford Peng, MD PhD, Alpine’s President and Head of Research & Development. “We look forward to working with Adaptimmune to develop next-generation SPEAR T-cell therapies to achieve improved clinical outcomes.”

Alpine and Adaptimmune will collaborate on a specified number of programs to develop SIP and TIP candidates with tailored affinities and modulatory activities that may enhance the anti-tumor responses seen with Adaptimmune’s SPEAR T-cells. For each program, Adaptimmune has an option to take a worldwide exclusive license for development and commercialization of SPEAR T-cell products incorporating the developed SIP or TIP candidate for the treatment of cancer.

Under the terms of the collaboration agreement, Adaptimmune will provide an upfront payment and research funding for ongoing programs. In addition, Alpine may be eligible for downstream development and commercialization milestones up to $288 million, if all pre-specified milestones for each program are achieved. Alpine will receive low-single digit royalties on worldwide net sales of the applicable products.

Adaptimmune is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of novel cancer immunotherapy products for cancer patients. The company’s unique SPEAR (Specific Peptide Enhanced Affinity Receptor) T‑cell platform enables the engineering of T-cells to target and destroy cancer across multiple solid tumors. For more information, visit http://www.adaptimmune.com.

Alpine Immune Sciences, Inc. is committed to leading a new wave of functional immune therapeutics. Alpine is employing directed evolution to create potentially powerful multifunctional immunotherapies to improve patients’ lives. Alpine has two lead programs. The first, ALPN-101 for autoimmune/inflammatory diseases, is a dual ICOS/CD28 antagonist, engineered to reduce pathogenic immune responses. The second, ALPN-202 for cancer, is a dual PD-L1/CTLA-4 antagonist and PD-L1-dependent CD28 co-stimulator intended to combine checkpoint inhibition with T cell co-stimulation – an approach currently absent from approved checkpoint therapies. Alpine is backed by world-class research and development capabilities, a highly-productive scientific platform, and a proven management team. For more information, visit www.alpineimmunesciences.com.