Blackstone Life Sciences Plans to Invest up to USD 250 Million in Autolus Therapeutics to Develop obe-cel in Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia and Advance Broader Platform
Nov 8, 2021 By MarketDepth
Autolus Therapeutics plc (NASDAQ: ATUL) reported with Blackstone Life Sciences announced an agreement where funds managed by Blackstone (NYSE: BX) will provide up to USD 250 Million in equity and product financing to support Autolus’ advancement of its CD19 CAR T cell investigational therapy product candidate, obecabtagene autoleucel (obe-cel), including next generation product therapies of obe-cel in B-cell malignancies.
$150M Dedicated to Product Financing
Blackstone will invest USD 150 Million in product financing to support obe-cel development and commercialization with USD 50 Million payable upon close of the transaction whereas the remainder will be payable based on certain development and regulatory achievements. Blackstone has pledged to purchase USD 100 Million of autolous’ American Depositary Shares (ADS) in a private placement that is subject to customary closing conditions. “Autolus is a world-class company with an innovative platform and the potential to deliver best-in-class, lifesaving treatments to patients suffering from cancer,” said Dr. Nicholas Galakatos, Global Head of Blackstone Life Sciences. “Our investment in these next generation cell therapies exemplify our conviction in the quality and promise of the life sciences sector in the UK. We look forward to building on this investment in the years to come.”
“We welcome Blackstone Life Sciences to join our drive to change the outlook for leukemia and lymphoma patients, notably those with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Blackstone’s investment and expertise will support the development and preparation for commercialization of obe-cel and put the program and the Company on a strong financial footing as we are approaching the read-out from the potentially pivotal FELIX clinical trial during the course of 2022.”
Dr. Christian Itin, Chief Executive Officer of Autolus
“We are excited to collaborate with Autolus in support of their innovative platform pursuing safer, more durable, therapies with the potential to be lifesaving options for patients with ALL and beyond. We see a significant opportunity to improve the outlook for cancer patients who are facing a devastating course of their disease,” said Nicholas Simon, Senior Managing Director of Blackstone Life Sciences. “This investment continues to build on our conviction in not just innovative cell and gene therapies, but also supporting innovation in the United Kingdom and Europe broadly.”
