Capstan Therapeutics — a biotechnology company pioneered by Penn researchers — was acquired by AbbVie in $2.1 billion deal.
Capstan, which specializes in CAR-T therapies for autoimmune disorders, oncology, and fibrosis, will operate under the global pharmaceutical corporation dedicated to “innovative medicines and solutions.” The deal, announced on June 30, will advance a subsect of research into new autoimmune treatments that began at Penn.
In the announcement, AbbVie Executive Vice President Roopal Thakkar described the acquisition as an opportunity to “transform the care of those living with autoimmune diseases by developing treatments that have the potential to reset the immune system.”
“Scientific innovation is required to address not just the symptoms of autoimmune diseases, but also to resolve and potentially cure the underlying disease,” Thakkar continued.
The acquisition was designed to bolster and make accessible research that was originally developed by Carl June, a co-founder of Capstan and the director of the Center for Cellular Immunotherapies at Penn Medicine’s Abramson Cancer Center. June has received recognition for his work in creating chimeric antigen receptor T cell immunotherapy.
The treatment modifies a patient’s T cells to target and kill their own cancer cells. June’s lab engineered the gene-modified T cells for the first clinical trial for CAR-T cell therapy in 2010. Patients from this study were able to have decade-long leukemia remissions after they received CAR-T cell treatments.
In the decade since the first clinical trial, many CAR-T cell therapies have been approved for various subtypes of leukemia, lymphoma, and myeloma, and autoimmune diseases such as lupus.
The research earned June the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences in 2024, along with the $1 million Sanford Lorraine Cross Award in 2021. He previously won the Dan David Prize for his contribution to the first United States Food and Drug Administration-approved personalized cellular therapy for cancer treatment.
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June, who is also the Richard W. Vague Professor in Immunotherapy at Penn, was named one of Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people of 2018.
Drew Weissman, the Roberts Family professor of Vaccine Research at the Perelman School of Medicine, is also among Capstan’s founders. Weissman, along with neurosurgery professor Katalin Karikó, was awarded the 2023 Nobel Prize in Medicine for his research into messenger RNA technology.
According to the terms of the acquisition, “AbbVie will pay up to $2.1 billion in cash at closing to acquire Capstan, subject to certain customary adjustments.”
Per the agreement, the exchange is subject to a variety of closing conditions, including the “expiration of the applicable waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act.”
Laura Shawyer, the president and chief executive officer of Capstan, noted in the announcement the potential of the CAR-T technology “to become a first-in-class platform to treat a wide range of autoimmune diseases.”
“Through AbbVie's world-leading expertise in immunology research, clinical development, and its commercialization capabilities, we believe that this transaction moves us closer to delivering on our shared mission to bring these innovative therapies to patients in need,” Shawyer added.
