- Kite, a Gilead Sciences Inc company (NASDAQ:GILD), announced a global strategic collaboration to co-develop and co-commercialize Arcellx Inc’s (NASDAQ:ACLX) lead late-stage product candidate, CART-ddBCMA, for relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma.
- Kite and Arcellx will jointly advance the CART-ddBCMA asset.
- Arcellx will receive an upfront payment of $225 million, a $100 million equity investment, and other potential contingent payments.
- The companies will share development, clinical trial, and commercialization costs for CART-ddBCMA and will jointly commercialize the product and split U.S. profits 50/50.
- Outside the U.S., Kite will commercialize the product.
- Arcellx also announced interim CART-ddBCMA Phase 1 results (October 31, 2022 cutoff date), demonstrating deep and durable responses.
- Of the 38 evaluable patients with a median follow-up of 15 months, a 100% overall response rate (ORR) was achieved in all patients.
- 27 of 38 (71%) evaluable patients achieved complete response (CR).
- CART-ddBCMA continues to be well-tolerated, showing no tissue-targeted toxicities and no cases of delayed neurotoxicity events or parkinsonian symptoms.
- The company also initiated a Phase 1 study evaluating ACLX-002 in adults with relapsed and/or refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML) or high-risk myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) in an open-label trial designed to evaluate the safety of ACLX-002.
- The secondary objectives are to measure the anti-tumor activity and pharmacokinetics of both SparX-002 and ARC-T cells.
- Price Action: ACLX shares are up 22.5% at $26.57 on the last check Friday.
Precision Drilling Shares Are Rocketing Today: What’s Going On?
Precision Drilling sees a surge in shares as Q4 results reveal C$506.9 million in revenues, driven by increased North American and international activity, with adjusted EBITDA hitting C$151.2 million. CEO Kevin Neveu outlines a bullish outlook, anticipating a 40% Y/Y increase in international rig count, driven by term contracts in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. The company aims to reduce debt and allocate significant portions of free cash flow to share repurchases.
