Fujifilm to Acquire Atara’s Cell Therapy
Manufacturing Facility for Total Upfront Financial Consideration of
USD 100 Million
Parties to Enter Long-Term Supply Agreement for
Clinical and Commercial Product Manufacturing
Transaction Expected to Result in Reduced
Operating Expenses for Atara
Upon Closing, Atara’s Cash Expected to Fund
Planned Operations into Q4 2023
Company to Host Live Conference Call and
Webcast Today at 4pm PST / 7pm EST
Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATRA), a leader in T-cell
immunotherapy, leveraging its novel allogeneic EBV T-cell platform
to develop transformative therapies for patients with cancer and
autoimmune diseases, today announced that it has entered into a
long term strategic agreement with FUJIFILM Diosynth
Biotechnologies (FDB), a subsidiary of FUJIFILM Corporation
(Fujifilm) under which Fujifilm will acquire Atara’s T-Cell
Operations and Manufacturing (ATOM) facility in Thousand Oaks,
California for USD 100 million upfront, retaining current
manufacturing and quality staff at the site.
The parties will also enter a long-term supply agreement, which
could extend to ten years. Following completion of the transaction,
FDB, a leading contract development and manufacturing organization
(CDMO) in advanced therapies, will provide Atara with access to the
flexible capacity and specific capability needed to manufacture
clinical and commercial-stage allogeneic cell therapies for its
maturing and promising pipeline, including tabelecleucel
(tab-cel®), under regulatory review in Europe for EBV+ PTLD, ATA188
for multiple sclerosis, and allogeneic CAR T therapies, ATA3271 and
ATA3219. FDB will also expand use of the Thousand Oaks site and
leverage its talented staff to manufacture a broader portfolio of
cell therapies. Atara will retain its expertise, staff, and
capabilities in manufacturing process science to continue to
innovate in initial manufacturing and scale up for allogeneic cell
therapies.
“FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies is a highly respected,
quality-focused, industry-leading manufacturing and development
organization that shares our pioneering culture and belief that
allogeneic cell therapies will transform the future of medicine,”
said Pascal Touchon, President and CEO of Atara. “We are incredibly
proud of our world-class ATOM staff and facility and believe that
this strategic partnership will meet our long-term manufacturing
needs. Our team has developed processes for our products, scaled
them up, and built inventory for clinical trials and the potential
commercial launch of tab-cel. We believe that now is the right time
for a strategic relationship with FDB to provide us with expert
manufacturing capabilities, as needed. Accordingly, we will further
focus capital resources on the development and commercialization of
our pipeline of potentially transformative therapeutics for serious
diseases.”
Atara expects to report cash, cash equivalents and short-term
investments of $371.1 million as of December 31, 2021. This
information is preliminary, has not been audited, and is subject to
change upon the audit of the company’s financial statements for the
year ended December 31, 2021.
Under the terms of the deal, Atara will receive USD 100 million
at closing and Fujifilm plans to offer positions to approximately
140 current highly skilled manufacturing and quality staff at the
site. The agreement is expected to reduce Atara’s planned operating
expenses over the multiyear period. Upon closing, the upfront
consideration, along with the reduction in operating expenses, in
addition to Atara’s existing cash, cash equivalents and short-term
investments is expected to fund Atara’s planned operations into Q4
2023, beyond the anticipated completion of the randomized,
placebo-controlled Phase 2 study of ATA188, the Company’s
investigational off-the-shelf T-cell candidate that has the
potential to reverse disability in progressive multiple
sclerosis.
Atara retains the recently established Thousand Oaks-based Atara
Research Center (ARC), which is fully operational and will house
Atara’s Pre-Clinical, Translational Sciences, Manufacturing Process
Sciences, and Analytical Development teams to further drive
innovation by leveraging the Company’s unique and differentiated
allogeneic cell therapy platform. Atara will also retain a talented
technical operations team to manage external manufacturing,
quality, logistics and supply.
“We are thrilled that through this acquisition we will add
approximately 140 talented staff from Atara’s cell therapy
manufacturing facility to the FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies
family. The collective expertise of the team will further support
our efforts as a world-class CDMO,” added Martin Meeson, chief
executive officer, FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies. “We also look
forward to adding the facility to FUJIFILM Diosynth
Biotechnologies’ existing global footprint and to bolster the
expansion of our advanced therapies CDMO business.”
ATOM is a 90,000 ft cutting edge T-cell therapy manufacturing
facility fully qualified to support clinical and commercial
production and designed with the flexibility to expand to support
various production requirements and capacities. The closing of the
transaction, subject to expiration of the waiting period under the
Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act and other customary
closing conditions, is expected to occur in April 2022.
Evercore Group LLC is acting as strategic advisor to Atara and
Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP is acting as its legal counsel.
Atara Conference Call
In connection with this announcement, Atara will host a webcast
and conference call today at 4pm PST / 7pm EST. Analysts and
investors can participate in the conference call by dialing
877-407-8291 for domestic callers and 201-689-8345 for
international callers, using the conference ID: 13726583. A live
audio webcast can be accessed by visiting the Investors & Media
– News & Events section of www.atarabio.com. An archived replay
will be available on the Company's website for 30 days.
About Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc.
Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc. (@Atarabio) is a pioneer in T-cell
immunotherapy leveraging its novel allogeneic EBV T-cell platform
to develop transformative therapies for patients with serious
diseases including solid tumors, hematologic cancers and autoimmune
disease. With our lead program in Phase 3 clinical development and
currently under review to support registration in Europe, Atara is
the most advanced allogeneic T-cell immunotherapy company and
intends to rapidly deliver off-the-shelf treatments to patients
with high unmet medical need. Our platform leverages the unique
biology of EBV T cells and has the capability to treat a wide range
of EBV-associated diseases, or other serious diseases through
incorporation of engineered CARs (chimeric antigen receptors) or
TCRs (T-cell receptors). Atara is applying this one platform, which
does not require TCR or HLA gene editing, to create a robust
pipeline including: tab-cel in Phase 3 development for Epstein-Barr
virus-driven post-transplant lymphoproliferative disease (EBV+
PTLD) and other EBV-driven diseases; ATA188, a T-cell immunotherapy
targeting EBV antigens as a potential treatment for multiple
sclerosis; and multiple next-generation chimeric antigen receptor
T-cell (CAR-T) immunotherapies for both solid tumors and
hematologic malignancies. Improving patients’ lives is our mission
and we will never stop working to bring transformative therapies to
those in need. Atara is headquartered in South San Francisco and
our leading-edge research, development and manufacturing facility
is based in Thousand Oaks, California. For additional information
about the company, please visit atarabio.com and follow us on
Twitter and LinkedIn.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains or may imply “forward-looking
statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act
of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. For
example, forward-looking statements include statements regarding:
the development, timing, progress and prospects of Atara’s product
candidates and regulatory filings, Atara’s proposed sale of its
ATOM manufacturing facility to FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies
(FDB), the parties ability to consummate such transaction,
including the timing thereof, the potential benefits of such
transaction to Atara, including the potential financial benefits to
Atara, the proposed supply agreement between the parties and the
duration and benefits thereof, FDB’s ability to perform under the
proposed supply agreement and meet Atara’s requirements, FDB’s
potential plans for ATOM, including the expansion thereof, Atara’s
ability to drive innovation, Atara’s ability to retain its staff
and capabilities, and the sufficiency of Atara’s cash, cash
equivalents, short-term investments to fund its planned operations.
Because such statements deal with future events and are based on
Atara’s current expectations, they are subject to various risks and
uncertainties and actual results, performance or achievements of
Atara could differ materially from those described in or implied by
the statements in this press release. These forward-looking
statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, including,
without limitation, risks and uncertainties associated with the
costly and time-consuming pharmaceutical product development
process and the uncertainty of clinical success; the COVID-19
pandemic, which may significantly impact (i) our business,
research, clinical development plans and operations, including our
operations in South San Francisco and Southern California and at
our clinical trial sites, as well as the business or operations of
our third-party manufacturer, contract research organizations or
other third parties with whom we conduct business, (ii) our ability
to access capital, and (iii) the value of our common stock; the
sufficiency of Atara’s cash resources and need for additional
capital; and other risks and uncertainties affecting Atara’s and
its development programs, including those discussed in Atara’s
filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC),
including in the “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and
Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” sections
of the Company’s most recently filed periodic reports on Form 10-K
and Form 10-Q and subsequent filings and in the documents
incorporated by reference therein. Except as otherwise required by
law, Atara disclaims any intention or obligation to update or
revise any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the
date hereof, whether as a result of new information, future events
or circumstances or otherwise.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220126006000/en/
INVESTORS & MEDIA: Investors Eric Hyllengren
805-395-9669 ehyllengren@atarabio.com Media Alex Chapman
805-456-4772 achapman@atarabio.com
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