ALLO - Allogene slips as Servier exits partnership for CD19 products

The shares of clinical-stage immuno-oncology company Allogene Therapeutics, Inc. ( NASDAQ: ALLO ) fell sharply on Wednesday after the company announced that French pharma group Servier informed its decision to discontinue the collaboration for CD19-directed product candidates.

Sep. 19 notice allows ALLO to exercise an option to license CD19 products outside the U.S. within a limited timeframe and does not impact the U.S. license for the candidates, the company said in a regulatory filing.

If ALLO opts to exercise the option, the company will not be able to recover 40% of development costs related to CD19 products from Servier.

However, in the event of a failure to exercise the option, ALLO will rely on Servier to meet the obligations under the collaboration agreement.

Servier’s discontinuation and subsequent actions may further impact the relationship between the company and French biotech Cellectis S.A. ( CLLS ) ( OTCPK:CMVLF ), ALLO warned, noting a sublicensing deal for certain CD19 rights that CLLS has challenged.

The CD19 candidates in question include ALLO-501 and ALLO-501A. The company said in August that ALLO-501A was on track for FDA clearance within weeks for a potentially pivotal Phase 2 clinical trial in relapsed/refractory large B cell lymphoma (LBCL)

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