Ropes & Gray Advises Pfizer in Asset Transaction with Allogene Therapeutics

Ropes & Gray advised Pfizer in a transaction with Allogene Therapeutics for Pfizer's portfolio of assets related to allogeneic chimeric antigen receptor T cell (CAR T) therapy, an investigational immune cell therapy approach to treating cancer. The agreement was announced on April 3; closing was announced on April 9.

Allogene received from Pfizer the rights to 16 preclinical CAR T assets licensed from Cellectis and Servier and one clinical asset licensed from Servier, UCART19, an allogeneic CAR T therapy that is being developed for treatment of CD19 protein-expressing hematological malignancies. In partnership with Servier, UCART19 is initially being developed in acute lymphoblastic leukemia blood cancer and is currently in a Phase 1 clinical trial. UCART19 uses gene editing technology pioneered and owned by Cellectis.

Allogene is a Two River portfolio company formed from an investment consortium that includes TPG, Vida Ventures, BellCo Capital, and the University of California Office of the Chief Investment Officer and Pfizer, among others. Pfizer will continue to participate financially in the CAR T portfolio’s development through a 25 percent ownership stake in Allogene.

The Ropes & Gray team was led by securities & public companies associate Tara Fisher and partner Paul Kinsella and included life sciences counsel Amanda Austin and life sciences associate Bradford Flint (all of Boston).