Novartis broadens immuno-oncology pipeline with acquisition of Admune Therapeutics and licensing agreements with XOMA and Palobiofarma

With four programs currently in clinical trials and five more expected to enter the clinic by the end of 2016, Novartis has rapidly built a robust portfolio of programs focused on stimulating the body's immune system to combat cancers. Deals add IL-15, adenosine receptor and TGF-beta inhibition programs to Novartis immuno-oncology portfolio . All three programs will be explored as monotherapies and in combination with chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CART) technology, novel checkpoint inhibitors, STING agonists and Novartis' deep portfolio of targeted therapies. Novartis announced today that it is broadening its portfolio of cancer immunotherapies with the acquisition of Admune Therapeutics and licensing agreements with Palobiofarma and XOMA Corporation. With four candidates currently in clinical trials and five more agents expected to enter the clinic by the end of 2016, Novartis has rapidly built a robust portfolio of programs focused on stimulating the body's immune system to combat cancers that includes novel checkpoint inhibitors, chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CART) technology, myeloid cell targeting agents, and STING agonists. Currently Novartis' myeloid cell targeting program (MCS-110) and checkpoint inhibitors targeting PD-1 (PDR001), LAG-3 (LAG525), are in phase 1 clinical trials. The CART program (CTL019) is in phase 2 clinical trials.