Johnson & Johnson's Janssen Biotech has returned global rights to Maryland-based AbelZeta Pharma's anti-CD19/CD20 bispecific CAR-T cell therapy prizloncabtagene autoleucel (C-CAR039), unwinding a 2023 licensing deal under which Janssen paid USD 245 million upfront for rights to C-CAR039 and a second CAR-T asset outside Greater China. AbelZeta has since received US FDA clearance of an investigational new drug (IND) application to advance C-CAR039 in US trials for relapsed or refractory (r/r) large B-cell lymphoma (LBCL).
The July 2026 rights return restores to AbelZeta development, regulatory, manufacturing, commercialization, and out-licensing control of C-CAR039 globally. Financial terms were not disclosed. AbelZeta said it is working with the US FDA to finalize protocols for two US populations: third-line or later LBCL patients previously treated with CAR-T and second-line CAR-T-naive patients.
The asset returns with a relatively mature clinical dataset. Long-term results presented at the European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation in March 2026 covered 48 patients with r/r B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (B-NHL). AbelZeta reported an overall response rate (ORR) of 91.5%, a complete response (CR) rate of 85.1%, and median progression-free survival of 60.1 months at a median follow-up of 53.9 months. A registrational Phase II study in CAR-T-naive r/r LBCL remains ongoing in China. Janssen previously revealed it was ending development of C-CAR-039 (also known as JNJ-4496) in May this year.
C-CAR039 targets CD19 and CD20 simultaneously, an architecture intended to reduce antigen escape following CAR-T treatment. Loss or downregulation of target antigen is one resistance mechanism associated with single-target CD19 CAR-T therapies including axicabtagene ciloleucel and tisagenlecleucel.
J&J's decision to hand the program back comes as the company makes a much larger commitment to next-generation in vivo CAR-T. Later in July, J&J agreed to USD 785 million in initial payments to Sail Biomedicines, including a USD 465 million equity investment, to develop in vivo CAR-T therapies for immune-mediated diseases. The agreement also includes up to USD 140 million in development-related contingent payments and gives J&J an option to acquire Sail for USD 2.58 billion.
The transactions involve different indications and development strategies and J&J has not linked the two decisions. Taken together, however, they highlight a shift in where the company is deploying new cell therapy capital: away from at least one externally licensed ex vivo autologous CAR-T oncology program while making a substantial investment in technology designed to generate CAR-T cells directly inside the patient.