AbbVie and Umoja Biopharma partnering to develop in-situ CAR-T cell therapies

AbbVie and Umoja Biopharma, an early clinical-stage biotechnology company, announced two exclusive option and license agreements to develop multiple in-situ generated CAR-T cell therapy candidates in oncology using Umoja’s proprietary VivoVecT platform. The first agreement provides AbbVie an exclusive option to license Umoja’s CD19 directed in-situ generated CAR-T cell therapy candidates. This includes UB-VV111, Umoja’s lead clinical program for hematologic malignancies currently at the IND-enabling phase. Under the terms of the second agreement, AbbVie and Umoja will develop up to four additional in-situ generated CAR-T cell therapy candidates for discovery targets selected by AbbVie. Under the terms of the two agreements, Umoja received upfront payments and an equity investment from AbbVie. Additionally, for the two agreements combined, Umoja may be eligible to receive up to $1.44B in aggregate for option exercise fees, development and regulatory milestones, with the potential for Umoja to earn additional sales-based milestones and tiered royalties on worldwide net sales.