Astellas upgrades Universal Cells licensing deal to a buy

14 February 2018

Japanese pharma major Astellas (TYO: 4503) is to pay up to $102.5 million in upfront and milestone payments to acquire Seattle-based biotech Universal Cells.

The deal gives Astellas full access to the Universal Donor Cell technology for the creation of cell therapy products that do not require human leukocyte antigen (HLA) matching, potentially overcoming a huge treatment challenge by reducing the risk of rejection.

"This additional capability will further enable Astellas to develop potential innovative cell therapies"

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