Florida-based Ligand Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: LGND) has entered a financing agreement with Massachusetts-based AvenCell Therapeutics worth up to USD 47 million to support clinical development of the biotech’s allogeneic CAR-T pipeline, including lead programs AVC-201 and AVC-203.
Under the agreement, Ligand has committed up to USD 41 million in exchange for a mid single-digit to low double-digit royalty on worldwide annual net sales of all current and future AvenCell pipeline assets, with the applicable rate determined by the total amount ultimately funded. The capital will be disbursed in four tranches, with the first payable at closing and the remaining three contingent on predetermined clinical milestones and other specified financing conditions. Ligand has also committed up to USD 6 million as a concomitant Series C equity co-investment, the details of which are to be announced separately.
The financing covers AVC-201, an anti-CD123 allogeneic CAR-T in a Phase Ib expansion trial for relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML), and AVC-203, a dual-targeting CD19/CD20 allogeneic CAR-T in a Phase I/II study for relapsed or refractory B-cell malignancies.
Phase Ia data for AVC-201, presented at the European Hematology Association 2026 Congress in June 2026 reported complete remissions in heavily pre-treated patients. There were reportedly no instances of immune effector cell-associated neurotoxicity syndrome (ICANS), graft-versus-host disease (GvHD), or graft rejection. CRS occurred in 12 patients and was limited to Grades 1–3, while one Grade 2 IEC-HS event was reported as the study’s only dose-limiting toxicity. AVC-201 has since advanced into Phase Ib expansion, with the Ligand capital intended to support progression through further clinical milestones. AVC-203's Phase I/II QUADvance study dosed its first patient in April 2026 and is enrolling at sites in the US and Europe.