Vir Biotechnology enters into collaboration with Gilead Sciences to develop T-cell engagers for solid tumours. Thursday, October 15, 2026 Vir Biotechnology has entered into a collaboration and licensing agreement with Gilead Sciences to discover and develop three novel T-cell engager (TCE) candidates for the treatment of solid tumours. T-cell engagers are designed to direct T cells, a type of immune cell, towards cancer cells and help destroy them. Although these treatments have become an important option for certain blood cancers, their use against solid tumours has been limited by the risk of toxicity. Under the agreement, Vir Biotechnology will use its expertise in TCE discovery and protein engineering, along with its proprietary dAIsY(TM) platform and PRO-XTEN(R) masking technology, to design and optimise the candidates. The treatments will target selected antigens associated with solid tumours, with the aim of improving anti-tumour activity while reducing the risk of toxicity. Vir Biotechnology will lead the discovery, design and optimisation of the three candidates. Gilead Sciences will hold exclusive rights to select candidates for further development and will be responsible for their subsequent development, manufacturing and commercialisation. The agreement includes upfront and near-term preclinical milestone payments of up to US$135 million for Vir Biotechnology. This comprises US$90 million in upfront consideration, including US$65 million in cash and a US$25 million equity investment at a 30% premium, as well as up to US$45 million in potential preclinical milestone payments. Vir Biotechnology may also receive up to US$1.74 billion in additional development, regulatory and commercial milestone payments. The agreement includes tiered royalties ranging from high single-digit to low double-digit percentages of net sales. Vir Biotechnology's PRO-XTEN(R) technology is designed to keep T-cell engagers inactive until they reach the tumour microenvironment. Enzymes found in this environment remove the masking component, activating the treatment and allowing T cells to attack cancer cells. The technology is also intended to extend the medicines' time in the body, potentially reduce toxicity and support less frequent dosing. Through this collaboration, the companies aim to develop new immunotherapies for solid tumours, where treatment options remain limited. The agreement also combines Vir Biotechnology's discovery and engineering capabilities with Gilead Sciences' oncology development and commercialisation expertise.

Vir Biotechnology enters R&D collaboration with Gilead for three novel PRO-XTEN dual masked t-cell engagers. Gilead and Vir Biotechnology Enter a $1.87 billion collaboration to discover three PRO-XTEN dual-masked T-cell engagers aimed at solid tumors. Vir Biotechnology, entered a collaboration and license agreement with Gilead to discover and engineer three novel PRO-XTEN dual-masked T-cell engager development candidates targeting selected solid tumor-associated antigens. As part of the collaboration, Gilead will hold an exclusive license to develop and commercialize the resulting therapies, with Vir eligible to receive up to $1.87 billion in combined near-term and milestone payments.[1] Vir will be responsible for discovery, design and optimization of the three T-cell engager candidates, applying its proprietary Daisy platform for rapid, multiparameter optimization alongside its universal PRO-XTEN masking technology.[1] Gilead is granted an exclusive license to nominate and advance candidates generated through the collaboration and is expected to take on subsequent development, manufacturing and commercialization activities. What are the details of the deal? Vir Biotechnology is eligible to receive up to $135 million in total upfront and near-term preclinical milestone payments, which breaks down into $90 million in upfront consideration, consisting of $65 million in cash and a $25 million equity investment priced at a 30% premium, plus up to $45 million in potential near-term preclinical milestones.[1] Beyond that initial tranche, Vir has the potential to receive up to $1.74 billion in further development, regulatory and commercial milestone payments, along with tiered royalties on net sales ranging from high single digits to low double digits.[1] How does the masking technology work? T-cell engagers are designed to direct the immune system, particularly T-cells, to destroy cancer cells. While the modality has become an important treatment option in blood cancers, its use in solid tumors has historically been limited by toxicity. Vir's PRO-XTEN masking technology is built to address that limitation. It is designed to extend the half-life of the molecule and keep T-cell engagers inactive, or masked, until they reach the tumor microenvironment.[2] There, tumor-specific proteases cleave off the mask and activate the T-cell engager, triggering T-cell killing of cancer cells. By extending half-life and confining activity to the tumor microenvironment, the company says the technology could limit toxicity, widen the therapeutic index of T-cell engagers, and potentially enable less frequent dosing regimens.[2] Putnam's CEO Matt Riordan with Pharmaceutical Executive about the importance of innovation, specifically highlighting how it's playing out in the oncology space. "Solid tumors represent the vast majority of cancer cases worldwide, and if CAR-T therapies can be successfully translated, they could redefine the standard of care for millions of patients." Why does this partnership matter for both companies? For Vir, the agreement adds external validation to its discovery engine while preserving the company's own clinical oncology ambitions. "We believe T-cell engagers have a powerful role to play in the future of immunotherapy to treat cancer," said Marianne De Backer, president and chief executive officer of Vir Biotechnology. "This collaboration with Gilead provides an opportunity to generate multiple differentiated candidates aimed at difficult-to-address solid tumors and to expand the potential impact of our science, while also advancing our own clinical oncology portfolio. This transaction provides further external validation of Vir Biotechnology's integrated discovery capabilities and the broad potential of the PRO-XTEN platform." For Gilead, the collaboration extends an oncology pipeline that already includes substantial development infrastructure. "We look forward to combining Gilead's established and growing oncology capabilities, including our extensive development expertise and focus on next-generation immunotherapies, with Vir Biotechnology's innovative discovery capabilities," said Flavius Martin, executive vice president, research, Gilead Sciences. "Together with Vir Biotechnology, we seek to bring meaningful innovative therapeutics to patients."

Vir, Gilead team up on solid tumor cancer therapies in up to $1.9 billion deal. Published on 10/14/2026 at 09:22 am EDT or by email Gilead Sciences, Inc. specializes in the development, manufacturing and marketing of therapeutic products. Net sales break down by source of income as follows: - sale of drugs (98.2%): for the treatment of HIV (71.8% of net sales), oncology diseases (11.2%), hepatitis B virus (11.1%), Ebola virus (3.2%) and other (2.7%; primarily cytomegalovirus retinitis, and advanced Kaposi sarcoma resulting from HIV); - other (1.8%): especially royalties and revenue from research and development services and from subcontracted production of therapeutic products. Net sales are distributed geographically as follows: the United States (70.9%), Europe (17.2%) and other (11.9%). Mean consensus Number of Analysts Last Close Price 147.92 USD Average target price 159.62 USD Spread / Average Target