Lyell runs toward a promising CAR-T for colorectal cancer

Lyell Immunopharma is licensing LYL273, a phase 1 CAR-T cell therapy for metastatic colorectal cancer, for $40M in cash and ~$33M in equity, plus potential future payouts to developer Innovative Cellular Therapeutics. After all things considered, the total deal value could exceed $890M, including milestones and royalties.

Why it matters: LYL273 showed a 67% response rate and 7.8 months median progression-free survival in early testing; rare results in heavily treated colorectal cancer patients, a group with few options.

Backstory: The therapy, which targets the GCC protein found in over 95% of colorectal cancers, impressed Lyell with phase 1 data from 12 U.S. patients. One patient died due to treatment-related complications, but safety protocols have since been updated.

Big picture: Treating solid tumors with CAR-T therapy has long been elusive. Lyell’s investment reflects growing confidence in LYL273’s potential to be a breakthrough in this high-need area.

Zoom in: Lyell plans to leverage its T-cell engineering and development capabilities to accelerate LYL273. The drug joins Lyell’s pipeline alongside ronde-cel, a CD19/CD20 dual-targeting CAR-T now in phase 3 trials for large B-cell lymphoma.