Autolus Therapeutics Announces Collaboration with Cabaletta Bio for Use of Autolus’ Safety Switch System in Cell Therapies for Autoimmune Disease

LONDON, Jan. 09, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Autolus Therapeutics plc (Nasdaq: AUTL), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing next-generation programmed T cell therapies, today announces that it has entered into a non-exclusive license agreement with Cabaletta Bio, Inc (Nasdaq: CABA). The agreement allows Cabaletta to incorporate Autolus’ proprietary RQR8 safety switch¹ into a cell therapy program for the treatment of autoimmune disease, with an option for Cabaletta to incorporate the safety switch in up to four additional cell therapy programs.

“We are delighted to partner with Cabaletta and to expand the use of our safety switches in autoimmune disease,” said Dr. Martin Pule, Chief Scientific Officer of Autolus. “Safety switches are critical to the future of our field of advanced cell therapies. They allow us to develop approaches that are designed to significantly improve patient outcomes, whilst at the same time potentially reducing the risk of adverse side effects from the treatment.”

Under the terms of the agreement, Autolus will receive an upfront payment for non-exclusive access to the RQR8 safety switch for use in Cabaletta’s CD19-CAR T cell therapy program for the treatment of autoimmune disease, with the potential for near term option exercise fees and development and regulatory milestone payments. In addition, Autolus is entitled to receive royalties on net sales of all Cabaletta cell therapy products that incorporate the RQR8 safety switch.

This agreement demonstrates how Autolus is able to generate value from its technologies and pipeline and follows similar deals with Bristol Myers Squibb and Moderna.

References

1. Philip B, Pule, M., et al. ‘A highly compact epitope-based marker/suicide gene for easier and safer T-cell therapy’. Blood 2014; 124(8):1277-1287
   

About Autolus Therapeutics plc
Autolus is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing next-generation, programed T cell therapies for the treatment of cancer. Using a broad suite of proprietary and modular T cell programming technologies, Autolus is engineering precisely targeted, controlled and highly active T cell therapies that are designed to better recognize cancer cells, break down their defense mechanisms and eliminate these cells. Autolus has a pipeline of product candidates in development for the treatment of hematological malignancies and solid tumors. For more information, please visit www.autolus.com.

Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts, and in some cases can be identified by terms such as "may," "will," "could," "expects," "plans," "anticipates," and "believes." These statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the development and commercialization of licensed products, the achievement of milestones, including receipt of any milestone payments or royalties and the potential benefits of the licensed technology. Any forward-looking statements are based on management's current views and assumptions and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance, or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the risks that programs incorporating the licensed technology do not advance or result in approved products on a timely or cost-effective basis or at all, and the impact of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. For a discussion of other risks and uncertainties, and other important factors, any of which could cause Autolus’ actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see the section titled "Risk Factors" in Autolus' Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 10, 2022, as well as discussions of potential risks, uncertainties, and other important factors in Autolus' subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. All information in this press release is as of the date of the release, and Autolus undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by law.

Contact:

Julia Wilson
+44 (0) 7818 430877
j.wilson@autolus.com

Susan A. Noonan
S.A. Noonan Communications
+1-917-513-5303
susan@sanoonan.com