Cellectis and Servier expand deal on UCART19 products

Shares of biotech firm Cellectis (Euronext Paris: ALCLS) were up more than 2% at 16.09 euros by early afternoon today, after it announced the execution of a binding term sheet with fellow France-based Servier to enter into an amendment to the agreement initially signed between the two companies in 2014.

Under the term sheet, Cellectis will grant to Servier, through an amendment to the agreement, an expanded exclusive worldwide license to develop and commercialize all next generation gene-edited allogeneic CAR T-cell products targeting CD19, including rights to ALLO-501A, an anti-CD19 candidate in which the rituximab recognition domains have been removed, either directly or through its US sublicensee Allogene Therapeutics.

UCART19/ALLO-501 and ALLO-501A are two anti-CD19 allogeneic CAR-T product candidates being jointly developed under a clinical development collaboration between Servier and Allogene based on an exclusive license granted by Cellectis to Servier.