Lyell Immunopharma has acquired exclusive worldwide rights from Innovative Cellular Therapeutics (ICT) to LYL273, an advanced chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell candidate for metastatic colorectal cancer and other guanylyl cyclase-C (GCC)-expressing cancers.

Lyell will receive the rights outside of Taiwan, Macau, Hong Kong and mainland China, and will commercialise, develop, research and manufacture the therapy.

ICT will be eligible for a $40m upfront payment, Lyell common stock shares of 1.9 million and an additional equity and cash consideration, including a $30m clinical milestone.

The company will also receive up to $675m in sales milestones and up to $115m in regulatory milestones. Further equity may be granted with achievement of future clinical and regulatory milestones.

US Phase I clinical trial data reveal dose-dependent activity of LYL273 in 12 patients who received lymphodepleting chemotherapy followed by the candidate, achieving a 67% overall response rate and an 83% disease control rate.

The product candidate, enhanced with cluster of differentiation 19 (CD19) CAR expression and controlled cytokine release, aims to optimise CAR T-cell expansion and cancer cell elimination in solid tumours.

Lyell co-founder and board chairman Richard Klausner stated: “The ability to treat solid tumours with an acceptable safety profile has become the holy grail for CAR T-cell therapy for cancer. These impressive early results suggest we may be on the path to finally breaking the barrier for solid cancer.”

The US Food and Drug Administration has granted fast track designation to LYL273 for the treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer.

Lyell president and CEO Lynn Seely stated: “We look forward to leveraging our expertise in T-cell biology and CAR T-cell clinical development to rapidly progress this programme, as well as our two pivotal clinical trials evaluating ronde-cel for patients with relapsed or refractory large B-cell lymphoma.”

In October 2024, Lyell Immunopharma entered a definitive agreement to acquire ImmPACT Bio, a privately owned clinical-stage biotechnology company specialising in CAR T‑cell therapies.