Twist Bioscience Enters into Research, Exclusive Option and License Agreement with Astellas for Antibodies to Reduce Tumor Microenvironment-Mediated Immunosuppression

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Twist Bioscience Corporation (NASDAQ: TWST), a company enabling customers to succeed through its offering of high-quality synthetic DNA using its silicon platform, today announced it has entered into a research collaboration and exclusive option license agreement with Astellas Pharma Inc. Under the terms of the agreement, the companies will jointly conduct research activities to identify and optimize proprietary Twist antagonist antibodies, targeting an undisclosed checkpoint inhibitor pathway in the tumor microenvironment (TME), as potential therapeutic development candidates. Ligands in this pathway are found in relatively high concentrations in the tumor microenvironment. Blocking the receptor’s activation has the potential to markedly enhance anti-tumor immunity with other Astellas therapies including chimeric antigen receptor-based (CAR) technologies combined with Universal Donor Cells. Astellas will have the exclusive option to license any development candidates generated as part of the collaboration.

“Our robust antibody discovery and optimization capabilities uniquely position us to develop antibodies with high affinity and specificity for historically difficult targets, such as those mediating immune suppression in the TME,” said Emily M. Leproust, Ph.D., CEO and co-founder of Twist Bioscience. “This out-licensing agreement validates the capabilities of Twist-generated antibodies to enable the discovery and advancement of next generation therapies. As the first out-licensing agreement for Twist Biopharma, this deal will serve as an initial base that we intend to build on as we pursue increasingly larger and later stage out-licensing opportunities with additional partners and targets.”

Targeting this pathway with antibody therapeutics is a novel approach with no antibodies in clinical development. Developing next-generation checkpoint inhibitor immunotherapies using new modalities is promising as an innovative healthcare solution. Through this collaboration we expect to stimulate a highly specific and targeted attack on cancer cells by optimizing these development candidates, and leveraging Astellas' flexible convertibleCAR™ cell therapy technology.

Under the terms of the agreement, Twist will receive an upfront payment from Astellas as well as an additional payment upon the exercise of the licensing option. Twist will receive payments connected to success-based clinical milestones as well as royalty payments on product sales for each licensed product. Astellas will be responsible for the development, manufacturing and commercialization of any licensed products.

About Twist Biopharma

By leveraging our unique ability to manufacture DNA at scale, we can construct proprietary antibody libraries precisely designed to match sequences that occur in the human body. The library of libraries gives our partners an integral and unbiased resource for antibody therapeutic discovery and optimization. This precise and rational approach to library fabrication combined with sophisticated bioinformatics and software expertise expedites antibody discovery by decreasing risk, increasing speed, and lowering the failure rate for antibody therapeutic development.

About Twist Bioscience Corporation

Twist Bioscience is a leading and rapidly growing synthetic biology and genomics company that has developed a disruptive DNA synthesis platform to industrialize the engineering of biology. The core of the platform is a proprietary technology that pioneers a new method of manufacturing synthetic DNA by “writing” DNA on a silicon chip. Twist is leveraging its unique technology to manufacture a broad range of synthetic DNA-based products, including synthetic genes, tools for next-generation sequencing (NGS) preparation, and antibody libraries for drug discovery and development. Twist is also pursuing longer-term opportunities in digital data storage in DNA and biologics drug discovery. Twist makes products for use across many industries including healthcare, industrial chemicals, agriculture and academic research.

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Legal Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical facts contained herein are forward-looking statements reflecting the current beliefs and expectations of management made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other important factors that may cause Twist Bioscience’s actual results, performance, or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, among others, the risks and uncertainties of the ability to attract new customers and retain and grow sales from existing customers; risks and uncertainties of rapidly changing technologies and extensive competition in synthetic biology could make the products Twist Bioscience is developing obsolete or non-competitive; the retention of employees of acquired companies and the ability of Twist Bioscience to successfully integrate acquired companies and to achieve expected benefits, risks of third party claims alleging infringement of patents and proprietary rights or seeking to invalidate Twist Bioscience’s patents or proprietary rights; and the risk that Twist Bioscience’s proprietary rights may be insufficient to protect its technologies. For a further description of the risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from those expressed in these forward-looking statements, as well as risks relating to Twist Bioscience’s business in general, see Twist Bioscience’s risk factors set forth in Twist Bioscience’s Quarterly Report Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 6, 2022 and subsequent filings with the SEC. Any forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date hereof, and Twist Bioscience specifically disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.