ArsenalBio and Bristol Myers Squibb Achieve Milestone for AB-4000 Series as Part of Ongoing Multi-Program Collaboration to Advance Next-Generation T Cell Therapies for Solid Tumors

Arsenal Biosciences, Inc. (ArsenalBio), a clinical-stage programmable cell therapy company focused on engineering advanced CAR T cell therapies for solid tumors, today announced that Bristol Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) has exercised its exclusive license option for ArsenalBio’s AB-4000 series, the lead collaboration program generated under the multi-program agreement signed in December 2020. This milestone further strengthens the collaboration to advance next-generation T cell therapies for the treatment of solid tumors.

“This milestone underscores the confidence Bristol Myers Squibb has in ArsenalBio’s programmable T cell platform and our shared vision to develop transformative cell therapies for solid tumors,” said Ken Drazan, M.D., ArsenalBio’s Chairman and CEO. “Our collaboration provides increasing opportunities to address the multifactorial challenge of treating solid tumors through programmable cell engineering. We look forward to continuing our work with Bristol Myers Squibb and progressing the AB-4000 series toward clinical development to potentially benefit patients with solid tumors.”

ArsenalBio remains eligible for additional milestone payments as the programs and collaboration advance, as well as royalties on potential commercial sales.

ArsenalBio leveraged its proprietary synthetic biology toolkit to create the AB-4000 series. Each of the company’s synthetic biology tools utilizes a CRISPR-based approach called CITE (CRISPR Integration of Transgene via Electroporation), an ex vivo single insertion of a DNA cassette into the T cell at a proprietary site. ArsenalBio’s CITE cassettes include multiple features aimed at improving the T cell product’s ability to identify and eradicate solid tumors. These features include PrimeR logic gates designed to enable the T cell therapy to selectively target and kill only the tumor cells, leaving healthy cells intact and potentially limiting off-target effects, and shRNA cassettes, which address challenges presented by the solid tumor microenvironment.

About the ArsenalBio & Bristol Myers Squibb CollaborationArsenalBio formed a multi-year discovery collaboration with Bristol Myers Squibb in December 2020 to advance next-generation T cell therapies for the treatment of solid tumors. Under the agreement, ArsenalBio will be responsible for discovering and building preclinical candidates against multiple targets, and Bristol Myers Squibb will have the option to obtain an exclusive worldwide license to develop and commercialize preclinical candidates. Following exercise of the option, Bristol Myers Squibb will be solely responsible for developing and commercializing the licensed candidates. In January 2022, ArsenalBio announced that Bristol Myers Squibb exercised an option to initiate a new program, expanding its strategic collaboration with ArsenalBio. In July 2023, Bristol Myers Squibb entered a limited co-exclusive commercial license agreement for the use of ArsenalBio's proprietary TME control technology to potentially increase CAR T therapeutic effects in a limited number of Bristol Myers Squibb cell therapy products.

About ArsenalBioArsenal Biosciences, Inc. (ArsenalBio), headquartered in South San Francisco, California, is a clinical-stage programmable cell therapy company focused on discovering and developing a pipeline of next-generation autologous T cell therapies to defeat cancer. With its proprietary biology toolkit, Arsenal is rewriting the programming of T cells to overcome the multifaceted challenges presented by solid tumors, with the goal of enabling therapeutic actions to develop first- and best-in-class cell therapies. Its clinical pipeline includes AB-2100 in kidney cancer and multiple preclinical candidates for prostate cancer and other solid tumors, in addition to two partnered programs with Bristol Myers Squibb. ArsenalBio is pioneering an AI-enabled foundation model of the T cell using deep learning with the aims to accelerate target discovery, improve patient segmentation for drug development, and enable personalized medicine in autoimmunity, allergy, infection, and immuno-oncology. To learn more, visit www.arsenalbio.com and follow us on LinkedIn and X (formerly Twitter).

Media Contact
Amanda Breeding
SCIENT PR
[e-mail]