Vertex’s latest autoimmune TCE play involves $28M upfront to AbCellera

Biotech Vertex’s latest autoimmune TCE play involves $28M upfront to AbCellera By James Waldron Jul 29, 2026 8:20am Vertex Pharmaceuticals AbCellera Licensing deals T-cell engagers AbCellera’s T-cell engager (TCE) platform has reeled in a second client this summer, with Vertex Pharmaceuticals paying $28 million upfront for a collaboration that will include autoimmune conditions. The deal will see AbCellera take the lead on discovery and early development activities, with Vertex funding the R&D costs and securing the right to develop any TCEs that result from the collaboration. Beyond the upfront payment, AbCellera is in line to receive milestone payments and tiered royalties on sales, although the companies didn’t offer a breakdown of the financials.

Under the deal, the companies can later agree to have AbCellera perform cell line development, process development and clinical manufacturing through phase 1 for any resulting programs. The Vertex deal comes a month after Jazz Pharmaceuticals jumped in with its own AbCellera agreement that included $56 million upfront and the promise of up to $820 million biobucks for each resulting TCE program. While the Jazz pact was focused on cancer, AbCellera name-checked autoimmune disease as leading the focus of today's Vertex agreement, alongside “other conditions.” Related Jazz, AbCellera strike TCE discovery and development deal worth up to $820M per drug Cell therapy biotechs have begun exploring the potential of TCEs to treat autoimmune diseases, including Cullinan Therapeutics, which read out the first clinical data from its CD19xCD3-directed TCE in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus last month.

Vertex is another company convinced of TCEs’ potential to address these indications. Last year, the biopharma paid $45 million upfront to Enlaza Therapeutics to develop TCEs and small-format drug conjugates for “certain autoimmune diseases.” “AbCellera’s T-cell engager platform offers sophisticated capabilities for discovering and engineering multispecific antibodies and we look forward to working with AbCellera’s team to explore the potential of this technology to develop innovative therapies for patients in need,” Vertex’s Chief Scientific Officer Mark Bunnage said in a July 29 release. AbCellera touts its platform, which has “fully integrated capability” to cover the journey from drug discovery to clinical manufacturing, as being able to produce multispecific TCEs for use against either oncology or autoimmune conditions.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals AbCellera Licensing deals T-cell engagers Autoimmune Diseases Deals Biotech