Sinovant Sciences and Roivant Sciences have launched Cytovant Sciences, a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing innovative cellular therapeutics in Asia.
Cytovant will focus on development programs that have the potential to transform the treatment of diseases that are prevalent in Asian patients. Concurrent with the company’s launch, Cytovant has entered into a multi-program license and collaboration agreement with Medigene AG, a clinical stage biotechnology company focusing on the development of T cell immunotherapies. 

Medigene has granted Cytovant exclusive licenses to develop, manufacture, and commercialize Medigene’s research-stage T cell immunotherapy targeting NY-ESO-1 as well as a DC vaccine targeting WT-1 and PRAME, in Greater China, South Korea, and Japan. In addition, Cytovant and Medigene have entered into a strategic collaboration and discovery agreement for T-cell receptor (TCR) immunotherapies for two additional targets. Medigene will be responsible for the generation and delivery of the TCR constructs using its TCR discovery and isolation platform. Following this research collaboration period, Cytovant will assume sole responsibility for the development and commercialization of these TCR therapies in the relevant countries. The TCRs to be generated by Medigene will be tailored specifically to Asian patients.
 
Medigene will receive an upfront payment of $10 million as well as potential development, regulatory, and commercial milestones which could total over $1 billion for the four products across multiple indications. Medigene will also be eligible to receive royalty payments. Additionally, Cytovant will reimburse all R&D costs incurred by Medigene within the collaboration.

“T cell receptors are the scouts of the immune system,” said Prof. Dolores Schendel, chief executive officer and chief scientific officer of Medigene. “This partnership implements Medigene’s strategy to discover TCRs with various HLA specificities in order to address different populations and markets. Cytovant, with its highly experienced management and scientific team was launched by Sinovant and Roivant to achieve excellence in cell therapies and we are proud to be part of this story of delivering various TCR projects as well as our DC vaccine for development in East Asia.”

“The complexities of end-to-end cell therapy manufacturing, development, and commercialization in Asia require regional focus, specialization, and knowledge,” said Benjamin Zimmer, president of Roivant Health. “Roivant and Sinovant have built Cytovant precisely to address these scientific and logistical complexities. We are excited to announce this strategic alliance with Medigene, one of the leading companies in the field of T cell-based therapies, to deliver important new cellular immunotherapies to Asian patients as quickly as possible.”