Dragonfly Therapeutics Secures $55M Collaboration with BMS to Advance NK Cell-Based Therapies for Multiple Sclerosis and Neuroinflammation

By Manhua

On July 6, Dragonfly Therapeutics, a biotechnology company dedicated to the development of NK cell therapies, announced a new research collaboration with pharmaceutical giant Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) to leverage Dragonfly’s proprietary technology in developing novel immunotherapies targeting multiple sclerosis and neuroinflammation-related targets.

Source: Company Website

Under the agreement, Dragonfly will grant BMS an option for global exclusive intellectual property rights to multiple novel targets and their related candidate drugs. BMS will pay Dragonfly a $55 million upfront payment, and Dragonfly will also be eligible to receive milestone payments related to research and development, regulatory approvals, and sales, as well as potential sales royalties on approved products.

In fact, as early as 2017, Celgene, which was acquired by BMS last year, had already entered into a collaboration with Dragonfly. The initial agreement involved the development of four hematologic cancer drugs. The following year, the scope was expanded to cover four additional drug targets. The latest collaboration announced this week grants BMS global exclusive options for multiple candidate drugs targeting nervous system targets.

NK cells are part of the innate immune system. They can induce target cell death by releasing lytic granules containing abundant molecules (including perforin, granzymes, and granulysin in humans), and can also induce target cell apoptosis by expressing various members of the tumor necrosis factor (TNF) superfamily, such as FASL and TRAIL. Furthermore, NK cells contribute to immune responses through interactions with other immune cells, including dendritic cells, macrophages, and T cells.

Dragonfly initially focused on cancer, with drugs developed through its “TriNKET” technology platform capable of binding to proteins on the surface of both cancer cells and NK cells. This binding triggers two effects: first, it stimulates NK cells to directly kill cancer cells; second, the NK cells alert other immune cells to target the cancer cells.

TriNKETs can simultaneously bind to proteins expressed on the surface of cancer cells and NK cells. Through this binding, TriNKETs stimulate NK cells to directly kill cancer cells while also recruiting other immune cells (such as B cells and T cells) to attack the cancer (Source: Dragonfly).

TriNKET, an acronym for tri-specific NK cell engager therapies, refers to tri-specific natural killer (NK) cell engager therapy. This approach enhances immunotherapy through multiple mechanisms (see figure above). In addition to enabling NK cells to directly kill tumor cells, it facilitates the activation of T cells and B cells by NK cells, thereby promoting the production of anti-tumor antibodies by B cells and recruiting additional T cells to eliminate tumor cells.

In March this year, Dragonfly just announced the completion of a new round of financing (the specific round and amount were not disclosed), bringing its total funding to over $300 million. At that time, the company stated that, considering all collaborations cumulatively, Dragonfly is eligible for up to $10 billion in milestone payments.

Dragonfly’s Pipeline (Source: Company Website)

References:

1# Dragonfly Therapeutics Announces New Research Collaboration with Bristol Myers Squibb to Develop Novel Therapeutic Candidates for Multiple Sclerosis and Neuro-inflammation Targets (Source: PRNewswire)

2# Bristol-Myers Squibb Pays Dragonfly $55M to Bring NK Cells to Neuro Diseases (Source: xconomy)

3# Dragonfly Therapeutics Initiates Phase 1/2 Study of DF1001 in Patients with Advanced Solid Tumors (Source: PR Newswire)