AstraZeneca is rowing back from its bet on oncolytic viruses. Four years after stepping up its presence in the immuno-oncology field through a five-asset pact with Transgene, the Anglo-Swedish drug developer has scrapped the partnership before moving a candidate into the clinic.
Transgene landed the deal with AstraZeneca in 2019. At that time, oncolytic viruses, a modality that has largely failed to live up to its promise, were enjoying a moment in the limelight in the wake of deals by Merck & Co. and Boehringer Ingelheim. The situation soured later that year, when a Transgene candidate flunked a phase 3 test, and worsened further last year when Merck ditched its $394 million bet.
Transgene revealed May 5 that AstraZeneca has followed Merck’s lead and decided to terminate its oncolytic virus deal. According to Transgene, AstraZeneca took the decision “following a strategic review of its pipeline.” In an emailed statement, an AstraZeneca spokesperson said: “Following a strategic review of the oncology pipeline, a decision was made by AstraZeneca not to progress the oncolytic virus R&D collaboration with Transgene.”
The termination comes 16 months after AstraZeneca paid Transgene $8 million to exercise its option on an oncolytic virus discovered through the partnership. Late last year, the companies presented preclinical data on AZD4820, an oncolytic vaccinia virus encoding IL-12, which caused complete responses in 60% of mice and augmented the activity of an anti-PD-L1 checkpoint inhibitor.
In February, AstraZeneca dropped MEDI9253, another oncolytic virus with a transgene encoding IL-12, in response to early-phase data. The removal of MEDI9253 from AstraZeneca’s pipeline is part of a broader retreat from the cytokine, which has seen Bristol Myers Squibb punt an IL-12 fusion protein.
Transgene didn’t name any candidates covered by the AstraZeneca deal in its statement to disclose the termination, only saying that it will regain global rights to an intravenous therapy that is on the cusp of the clinic. The French biotech, which received $10 million upfront when AstraZeneca struck the deal, is focused on early-phase trials of two viruses, one that expresses IL-12 and an anti-CTLA4 antibody and another that encodes an anti-CTLA4 antibody.
Responsibility for overseeing development of those candidates will now fall on Alessandro Riva, M.D., who is set to take over as CEO at the start of next month. Riva headed up Gilead Sciences’ oncology unit from 2017 to 2019, a period that covered the $11.9 billion Kite Pharma buyout, and worked at Novartis before joining the Big Biotech.