Vyriad collaborates with Novartis on in vivo CAR-T cell therapies

US clinical-stage biotech Vyriad has entered into a strategic collaboration with Swiss pharma giant Novartis (NOVN: VX) to discover and develop in vivo chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapies.

The collaboration will leverage Vyriad's active targeting lentiviral vector platform and Novartis expertise and leadership in cell therapy innovation. Novartis and Vyriad will focus on the identification and development of in vivo CAR-T cell therapy candidates to be clinically advanced by Novartis. Vyriad will receive an undisclosed upfront payment, milestone payments, and tiered royalties on each program.

"Taking an in vivo approach to CAR-T cell therapies has the potential to transform the field," said Vyriad chief executive Dr Stephen Russell. "We believe our targeted delivery platform is poised to enable this vision for the industry and our collaboration with Novartis represents an exciting step forward in advancing the next generation of CAR-T cell treatments," he noted.