Juno Therapeutics is known as one of the leading companies that engineer T-cells of the immune system to kill cancer cells. It has reported some preliminary success with patients who have a rare blood cancer, acute lymphocytic leukemia.
Many questions remain, however, including this one: Can it unleash immune system firepower on solid tumors like those of the lung, breast and prostate that affect many more people? For the scientists out there, can it go beyond aiming T-cells at a marker on tumors called CD19?
Today, it’s acquiring a Boston-based startup that’s supposed to help it go down that road.
Seattle-based Juno is announcing today that it has agreed to acquire Boston-based AbVitro, a spinout from George Church’s lab at Harvard University, for about $125 million in cash and stock. Specifically, Juno is offering $78 million in cash and 1,289,193 shares of its stock (valued at $36.39 a share at Friday’s close).
For all that money, the little company is offering up technology for sequencing single T-cells and B-cells of the immune system. Through the AbVitro immune sequencing method, a fully human, natural T-cell receptor that’s designed to combat a specific cancer cell marker can be found in a matter of 2-3 weeks, says Juno chief financial officer Steve Harr. By grabbing a single cell, and looking at its genome, the AbVitro scientists can tease apart the complex genes that go into making a T-cell receptor, in both its alpha and beta pairs. Industry scientists doing that same work today can take seven to 12 months, he said. “Finding natural T-cell receptors to date has been a very arduous and onerous process,” Harr said.
“This changes the way, on a basic level for us, how we can interrogate the immune system and its natural responses to cancer,” Harr said. “Number one, you’re faster. Two, you’re better. And three, you can go much broader.”
The AbVitro technology will also become part of Juno’s broader collaboration with biotech giant
AbVitro’s twist on sequencing technology has been used in multiple applications for immunology. It has concentrated on sequencing of whole sets of antibodies produced by B cells of the immune system; it has done the fast, high-volume native pairing of so-called heavy and light chains that give antibodies and T-cells their exquisite adaptability to fight various anigens; and it has worked on an antigen library that can be used for discovering new drug targets. Last April, at the American Association for Cancer Research, AbVitro presented data saying its approach had identified specific immune system antibodies against pancreatic cancer, a notoriously tough-to-treat form of cancer.
The investors, and early employees, in AbVitro are being richly rewarded. The company, founded in 2010, reportedly raised $3 million in a Series A venture round in 2012 led by Sante Ventures. AbVitro actually raised “a little more” than $3 million, Harr said, but not a lot more. Given the small amount raised, that means the return on investment in AbVitro is extremely high by biotech standards. Companies usually have to raise tens of millions before creating enough value to be acquired or go public. “They’ve done something totally disruptive, and their investors will have a nice return,” Harr said.
Technology companies are also sometimes known to make “acqui-hires” in which they acquire little companies mainly to get some exceptionally talented people to work for them. That’s a big aspect of this deal. Juno is getting 15 AbVitro employees, including chief scientist Francois Vigneault, to join the company and move across the country to work shoulder-to-shoulder with Juno’s scientists in Seattle. “This guy Francois and all of his direct reports are truly differentiated brilliant scientists,” Harr said.
George Church, the famously prolific Harvard biologist who co-founded AbVitro, has also agreed to work with Juno as a scientific consultant.
