Adaptive Biotechnologies Signs Two Non-Exclusive Research And Data Agreements With Pfizer Worth Up To $890M To Advance Autoimmune And Drug Discovery Programs

Adaptive Biotechnologies Corporation, a commercial-stage biotechnology company focused on translating the genetics of the adaptive immune system into clinical products, announced the signing of two non-exclusive agreements with Pfizer to advance research and drug discovery using Adaptive’s proprietary T-cell receptor discovery capabilities and large-scale immune receptor antigen mapping data. These collaborations are designed to support the identification of new therapeutic targets and accelerate innovation across multiple disease areas.

Under the first agreement, the companies will focus on rheumatoid arthritis. Adaptive has identified autoreactive, or disease-driving, T-cell receptors that may contribute to autoimmune conditions. Using its immune medicine platform, Adaptive will analyze Pfizer’s clinical samples to identify common TCRs that are significantly enriched in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. These data are expected to help Pfizer better understand disease mechanisms and accelerate the development of potential therapeutic candidates for RA. Adaptive will lead the target discovery activities, while Pfizer will assume responsibility for the subsequent development and commercialization of any therapies arising from this work.

As part of this rheumatoid arthritis collaboration, Adaptive will receive an upfront payment and may be eligible for additional milestone payments related to data delivery, development, commercialization, and sales. The total potential value of these milestones could reach approximately $890 million. The second agreement involves the licensing of Adaptive’s TCR-antigen binding datasets. Adaptive has developed what it believes to be the largest and highest-quality dataset of its kind compared with publicly available resources. Under this non-exclusive, multi-year arrangement, Pfizer has licensed selected TCR-antigen data to support the development and training of its artificial intelligence and machine learning models. These tools will be used to accelerate research and drug discovery efforts across multiple disease areas.

Chad Robins, Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Adaptive Biotechnologies, said that the company’s AI-enabled immune medicine platform has enabled the creation of a deeply characterized and extensive immune receptor dataset, along with enhanced insights into T-cell biology. He noted that this high-quality immune system data has the potential to drive discoveries across immunology programs and contribute to the development of next-generation therapies for rheumatoid arthritis and beyond. Under the TCR-antigen data licensing agreement, Adaptive will receive an upfront payment as well as potential future annual licensing fees. Specific financial terms for this agreement were not disclosed.