Pieris and Gamida Cell limped on into 2024, but as the first quarter comes to a close they've effectively thrown in the towel. Pieris says it looked into numerous ways to keep its R&D going, including contacting over 500 potential partners and starting merger talks with one, but these came to nothing. It’s now discontinuing R&D and scaling back to remain little more than a vehicle to collect possible future milestones from Servier, Pfizer and Boston Pharmaceuticals, perhaps hoping to copy the recent success of Merrimack. Meanwhile, Gamida is being taken private by Highbridge Capital, which holds a $75m convertible bond in Gamida, but which will now convert this into equity, effectively squeezing out remaining holders. Gamida fell from grace a year ago when it axed preclinical NK cell projects – in common with Fate and Nkarta it found the going tough in this space – and Highbridge will now fund commercialisation of its US-approved allogeneic stem cell transplant donor source, Omisirge. Pieris mainly focused on developing bispecifics, including 4-1BB-co-stimulated proteins, but this approach has fallen out of favour after disappointments at Alpine Immune Sciences, Lilly, Numab and Inhibrx. The ups and downs of Pieris and Gamida CellCompanyIPOSelected earlier projectsOutcomeFuture focusPieris Pharmaceuticals$23m raised in Jun 2015PRS-343 (cinrebafusp alfa), anti-HER2 x 4-1BB fusion proteinCompany tried and failed to find a merger partnerCollecting potential future milestone & royalty payments from Servier (PRS-344), Pfizer (PRS-346) & Boston Pharmaceuticals (PRS-342)PRS-344, anti-PD-L1 x 4-1BB MAbPRS-346, anti-CD228 x 4-1BB fusion proteinPRS-342, anti-GPC3 x 4-1BB MAbPRS-110, cMet antagonistPRS-332, anti-PD-1 x Lag3 fusion proteinGamida Cell$50m raised in Oct 2018GDA-201 (nadravaleucel), unmodified donor-derived NK cells for NHLCompany tried and failed to find a partner for Omisirge (omidubicel)As a private company commercialising Omisirge as a stem cell transplant adjunctGDA-301, NK cells with CISH knockout & mbIL-15GDA-401, undisclosed NK cell projectGDA-501, anti-HER2 Car-NK therapyGDA-601, anti-CD38 Car-NK therapySource: OncologyPipeline.
Pieris and Gamida Cell limped on into 2024, but as the first quarter comes to a close they've effectively thrown in the towel. Pieris says it looked into numerous ways to keep its R&D going, including contacting over 500 potential partners and starting merger talks with one, but these came to nothing. It’s now discontinuing R&D and scaling back to remain little more than a vehicle to collect possible future milestones from Servier, Pfizer and Boston Pharmaceuticals, perhaps hoping to copy the recent success of Merrimack. Meanwhile, Gamida is being taken private by Highbridge Capital, which holds a $75m convertible bond in Gamida, but which will now convert this into equity, effectively squeezing out remaining holders. Gamida fell from grace a year ago when it axed preclinical NK cell projects – in common with Fate and Nkarta it found the going tough in this space – and Highbridge will now fund commercialisation of its US-approved allogeneic stem cell transplant donor source, Omisirge. Pieris mainly focused on developing bispecifics, including 4-1BB-co-stimulated proteins, but this approach has fallen out of favour after disappointments at Alpine Immune Sciences, Lilly, Numab and Inhibrx.
The ups and downs of Pieris and Gamida Cell
| Company | IPO | Selected earlier projects | Outcome | Future focus |
|---|
| Pieris Pharmaceuticals | $23m raised in Jun 2015 | PRS-343 (cinrebafusp alfa), anti-HER2 x 4-1BB fusion protein | Company tried and failed to find a merger partner | Collecting potential future milestone & royalty payments from Servier (PRS-344), Pfizer (PRS-346) & Boston Pharmaceuticals (PRS-342) |
| PRS-344, anti-PD-L1 x 4-1BB MAb |
| PRS-346, anti-CD228 x 4-1BB fusion protein |
| PRS-342, anti-GPC3 x 4-1BB MAb |
| PRS-110, cMet antagonist |
| PRS-332, anti-PD-1 x Lag3 fusion protein |
| Gamida Cell | $50m raised in Oct 2018 | GDA-201 (nadravaleucel), unmodified donor-derived NK cells for NHL | Company tried and failed to find a partner for Omisirge (omidubicel) | As a private company commercialising Omisirge as a stem cell transplant adjunct |
| GDA-301, NK cells with CISH knockout & mbIL-15 |
| GDA-401, undisclosed NK cell project |
| GDA-501, anti-HER2 Car-NK therapy |
| GDA-601, anti-CD38 Car-NK therapy |
