Gilead strikes US$1.9B deal with Vir to develop solid tumour cancer therapies
Vir could also receive up to US$45 million in near-term preclinical milestone payments and up to US$1.74 billion in potential development, regulatory, and commercial milestones.
USA—Gilead Sciences and Vir Biotechnology have signed a second collaboration to develop T-cell engager therapies for solid tumours, expanding their partnership into cancer immunotherapy.
Under the agreement, Gilead will pay Vir US$90 million upfront, comprising US$65 million in cash and a US$25 million equity investment.
Vir could also receive up to US$45 million in near-term preclinical milestone payments and up to US$1.74 billion in potential development, regulatory, and commercial milestones.
Three therapies under development
Gilead will receive an exclusive licence to develop and commercialise three dual-masked T-cell engagers (TCEs) generated through the collaboration.
It will select the candidates to advance and lead their development, manufacturing and potential commercialisation. All three therapies will target antigens associated with solid tumours.
The partnership centres on Vir’s PRO-XTEN technology, which is designed to extend the half-life of TCEs and keep them inactive until they reach the tumour microenvironment.
By restricting activation outside the tumour, the technology aims to reduce off-target toxicity and potentially support more flexible dosing schedules.
Vir will also use its artificial intelligence-enabled dAIsY platform to optimise the therapies against multiple development parameters.
The approach combines molecular engineering with computational tools to identify candidates with potentially improved therapeutic properties.
“We believe TCEs have a powerful role to play in the future of immunotherapy to treat cancer,” said Marianne De Backer, president and chief executive officer of Vir Biotechnology.
She said the collaboration would let the companies generate multiple differentiated candidates for difficult-to-treat solid tumours, expand the potential applications of Vir’s technology, and advance its internal oncology pipeline.
Expanding interest in T-cell engagers
The agreement builds on a relationship established in 2021, when Gilead and Vir began exploring combinations of their investigational hepatitis B therapies.
Their latest collaboration extends that relationship into oncology as pharmaceutical companies seek new approaches to direct immune cells against cancer.
Vir has also partnered with Astellas Pharma to develop and commercialise VIR-5500, a TCE targeting prostate cancer in Phase I.
The programme reflects growing interest in applying TCE technology beyond blood cancers, where the modality has already gained clinical traction.
Other pharmaceutical companies are pursuing similar opportunities.
GSK, Bristol Myers Squibb and UCB have entered TCE-related agreements, while Gilead expanded its investment in the field in March through its reported US$2.2 billion acquisition of autoimmune disease-focused TCE developer Ouro Medicines.
Sanofi and Boehringer Ingelheim have also secured rights to trispecific TCE programmes focused on autoimmune diseases through agreements with Kali Therapeutics and CDR-Life, respectively.
The growing range of partnerships highlights the industry’s interest in adapting TCEs to different diseases and targets.
However, solid tumours present distinct development challenges, including the need to reach tumour tissue while limiting damage to healthy cells.
Technologies designed to control TCE activation and improve tolerability are therefore central to efforts to broaden the modality’s clinical applications.
Separately, analysts at GlobalData have identified TCEs as a potential driver of change in the treatment of relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma, another area attracting pharmaceutical investment.
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