Innovation community news – June

A summary of recent news and announcements from Milton Park-based companies: 

• Adaptimmune Therapeutics’ Tecelra to generate $35-$45m this year
• Evotec secures a $2.5m grant from the Gates Foundation
• Replimune ‘ready for a melanoma drug launch’
• Summit Therapeutics reports promising global trial results for lung cancer drug

Adaptimmune Therapeutics’ Tecelra to generate $35m to $45m this year

Milton Park-based Adaptimmune Therapeutics has announced its treatment for solid tumour cancers, Tecelra, has continued to rapidly accelerate. With launch metrics indicating a strong performance, the company expects to generate between $35 million and $45 million in sales from the drug next year.

Chief Executive Officer of Adaptimmune, Adrian Rawcliffe, commented: “The launch of Tecelra continues to rapidly accelerate, as evidenced by all launch metrics.

“The shape of the pipeline of patients being tested and apheresed continues to support a robust acceleration of sales in Q2 and the second half of the year and we continue to experience 100% manufacturing success rates and no payer denials.”

Evotec secures $2.5m grant from the Gates Foundation

Building on a long-standing partnership, Milton Park-based Evotec has secured a $2.5 million grant from the Gates Foundation (GF) to help develop better treatments for tuberculosis. The funding will support the creation of shorter, safer and more effective drug combinations using Evotec’s state-of-the-art translational platforms.

Dr Cord Dohrmann, Chief Scientific Officer of Evotec, commented: “We are honoured to receive this new grant from GF, which reinforces our shared commitment to advancing better treatment options for tuberculosis. Through our ongoing partnership, we have made important contributions to the identification of promising new regimens, and this grant enables us to continue that work.”

Replimune ‘ready for a melanoma drug launch’

Clinical stage biotechnology company, Replimune has announced it is ready to launch its first cancer treatment, RP1, targeting advanced melanoma. With an encoded protein positioned to enhance its tumour killing ability, RP1 is designed to treat immune responsive tumour types*. The company announced it is well prepared to support a successful roll-out.

Dr Sushil Patel, Chief Executive Officer of Replimune, commented: “Replimune announced it is fully staffed and ready to launch its first cancer treatment, RP1, targeting advanced melanoma.

“The company believes it has a strong plan and deep market knowledge to support the successful roll-out of the drug.”

*A tumour which elicits an immune response from the body

Summit Therapeutics reports promising global trial results for lung cancer drug

Summit Therapeutics has announced encouraging results from its global Phase III trial evaluating ivonescimab in combination with chemotherapy for patients with a type of non-small cell lung cancer that had progressed following earlier targeted treatments.

The treatment reduced the risk of disease progression or death by 48% compared to chemotherapy alone, with a positive trend also observed in overall survival.

Dr Maky Zanganeh, President and Co-CEO of Summit, said: “Our conviction in the promise that this therapy holds for patients continues to be validated: we believe that ivonescimab has the potential to make a meaningful difference for the betterment of patients’ lives.” 

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