Takeda is tapping out of the cell therapy arena as part of a "strategic portfolio reprioritization," with 137 roles at the drugmaker's Massachusetts R&D site affected.
The company is seeking a partner to take over its cell therapy platform and undisclosed preclinical programs, the Japanese drugmaker announced Oct. 1, adding that it currently isn't running any clinical trials in the area. The change means that 137 employees in Massachusetts, where the company launched a 24,000 square-foot R&D cell therapy manufacturing facility in 2020, will be out of a job.
Massachusetts "remains a key hub for R&D at Takeda," a spokesperson told Fierce, pointing out that the pharma is on track to open its new R&D facility in Kendall Square next year.
Still, the retreat from cell therapy whittles Takeda's focus on four modalities down to three: small molecules, biologics and antibody-drug conjugates.
Leaving behind cell therapy means ditching the gamma delta T-cell therapy platform gained from the 2021 acquisition of former partner GammaDelta Therapeutics, which Takeda said is the main contributor to an expected impairment loss of 58 billion Japanese yen (about $394 million).
The buyout had given Takeda access to a pipeline of four assets for various cancers. That included GDX012, an allogeneic gamma delta T cell therapy that was in phase 1/2 testing for adults with acute myeloid leukemia in March.
As of July 30, no cell therapies were listed among Takeda’s four oncology assets, which includes ex-China rights to Keros’ elritercept, Japan rights to ImmunoGen’s mirvetuximab soravtansine-gynx, Protagonist-partnered rusferitide and Kumquat-partnered TAK-168.
Takeda had previously deprioritized cell therapies in its cancer work, with the company’s oncology head P.K. Morrow, M.D., telling Fierce in March that “it's unlikely we're going to do any cell therapy deals in the near future.”
Now, the drugmaker plans to channel investments into programs that it "believes can deliver transformative therapies to patients at increased speed and scale,” according to the company release.
“Takeda’s preclinical research programs will continue to benefit from the novel insights gained from its cell therapy research,” the pharma added.
Back in May, Takeda halved its oncology pipeline, dropping three early-stage candidates: a small molecule, plus two T-cell engagers originally acquired in a $525 million takeover of Maverick Therapeutics.
The pipeline cuts followed a wide-ranging $900 million restructure in 2024 that was prompted by rapidly declining profits and generic headwinds from its ADHD drug Vyvanse.
Numerous other companies have pulled back from cell therapy in recent years as the modality undergoes the low point of a boom-and-bust cycle. Just one day ago, Novo Nordisk dumped a $598 million cardio cell therapy pact amid the Danish pharma’s ongoing restructuring.
Gilead’s Kite and Roche’s Genentech have also culled separate cell therapy deals in the last few months, each potentially worth more than $2 billion. Around the same time, however, Kite made a $350 million play in the in vivo CAR-T race by acquiring Interius BioTherapeutics.
Editor's note:This story was updated Thursday, Oct. 2 at 7.45 am ET to reflect confirmation of layoffs at Takeda.