Takeda in Five-Year Deal for T Cell Therapies

Takeda Pharmaceutical has formed a five-year collaboration with Maverick Therapeutics, a Brisbane, California-based private start-up biotechnology company, to develop Maverick’s T-cell engagement platform in a $125-million deal.

The $125 million includes an upfront option, equity and research, and development funding payments and provides Takeda the exclusive right to purchase Maverick after five years for an undisclosed sum. Under the agreement, Takeda will develop Maverick’s T-cell engagement platform, which was created specifically to improve the utility of T-cell redirection therapy for treating cancer.

Maverick was founded in 2016 and was solely financed by MPM Capital. MPM’s BioVentures 2014 and the UBS Oncology Impact Fund, managed by MPM Capital, have also joined Takeda in a $23-million series B financing as a key element of the financing package. Takeda will add a director to Maverick’s board. The management team of Maverick will be led by president and chief scientific officer Hans-Peter Gerber, PhD, formerly of Pfizer.

Takeda signed agreements with Maverick Therapeutics through its wholly owned subsidiary, Millennium Pharmaceuticals, headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Source: Takeda Pharmaceutical 

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