Roche’s pipeline trim claims Poseida’s off-the-shelf CAR T asset

News Business Roche’s pipeline trim claims Poseida’s off-the-shelf CAR T asset October 22, 2026 | 2 min read | Tristan Manalac Twitter LinkedIn Facebook Email Print Aside from RG6540, Roche also discontinued a host of other early-stage assets, including an antisense oligonucleotide for Alzheimer’s disease and a small-molecule candidate for geographic atrophy. Roche has ended the development of an investigational CAR T asset obtained in the company’s $1.5 billion buyout of Poseida Therapeutics in January 2025, though Roche CEO Thomas Schinecker made clear on Thursday that the company is not pivoting away from this mechanism overall.RG6540 is an off-the-shelf CAR T therapy designed to bind the B cell surface markers CD19 and CD20. Roche had been running Phase 1 programs for the asset in systemic lupus erythematosus and multiple sclerosis, according to a company presentation in July.

This study has been withdrawn, per an August update to a federal clinical trials database. Roche lists the molecule as removed in its pipeline page.A Phase 1 study of RG6540—dubbed P-CD19CD20-ALLO1-001 at Poseida—in B cell malignancies has also been terminated, a Roche spokesperson confirmed to BioSpace via email. “We do believe in the CD19xCD20 CAR Ts,” Schinecker said during a Thursday morning press call to present the company’s third quarter earnings.

“We have not stopped working on them. We just stopped working on that molecule.”Schinecker added that Roche is advancing other molecules from the Poseida acquisition that are also aimed at CD19xCD20 and “are even better.” Roche lists no other CD19xCD20 programs on its pipeline page or in its most recent quarterly presentation.Roche got RG6540 from its early 2025 takeover of Poseida Therapeutics, for which the company agreed to pay up to $1.5 billion. The centerpiece of that deal is another off-the-shelf CAR T therapy called P-BCMA-ALLO1, now named RG6538.

The asset is in a Phase 1 study for relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma, with topline data set for 2029. Infectious disease GSK, Ionis’ hepatitis B functional cure effectively eliminates virus in nearly 20% of patients The antisense oligonucleotide was even more effective in patients with relatively low viral activity. More than one-quarter of these individuals had undetectable levels of the virus in the blood for at least six months after stopping treatment.

May 28, 2026 · 2 min read · Tristan Manalac Read more Aside from RG6540, Roche’s pipeline trim also claimed a mid-stage study for the anti-TL1A antibody afimkibart in atopic dermatitis, according to the company’s third-quarter presentation. The asset, which came from the company’s $7.1 billion acquisition of Telavant in October 2023, continues to be in development for other indications, including rheumatoid arthritis, metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) and inflammatory bowel diseases. Also in its Thursday presentation, Roche announced the discontinuation several early-stage trials.

These included Phase 1 studies of the small-molecule RG6327 for geographic atrophy, the antibody enzelkitug for solid tumors, the TMEM16A potentiator RG6421 for muco-obstructive respiratory disease, RG6622 for coronary artery disease, the antisense oligonucleotide RG6627 for Alzheimer’s disease and the CDK blocker RG6795 for breast cancer.The company in late September also canned the mid-stage obesity candidate emugrobart after disappointing mid-stage data. Roche had previously discontinued trials for emugrobart in spinal muscular atrophy and facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy. Spinal muscular atrophy Roche Ends Run for Muscular Atrophy Drug, Leaving Door Open for Competitors The main beneficiary of Roche’s discontinuation of an investigational spinal muscular atrophy drug is Scholar Rock, which was hobbled by manufacturing concerns at a Novo Nordisk facility last year but is now nearing a potential resolution.

March 20, 2026 · 2 min read · Tristan Manalac Read more Roche’s third quarter earnings Aside from these pipeline cuts, Roche announced a Q3 earnings beat of 7%, earning CHF 16.1 billion ($19.6 billion) across its business. Much of the group’s earnings came from its pharmaceuticals unit, which brought in CHF 12.6 billion ($15.4 billion) in the quarter, growing 8% from the same period in 2025. Diagnostics, meanwhile, climbed 4% to make CHF 3.5 billion ($4.3 billion).

Roche’s leading product is the multiple sclerosis drug Ocrevus, which brought in CHF 1.8 billion ($2.2 billion) in Q3, a 9% year-on-year improvement. This was followed by the hemophilia A therapy Hemlibra, which jumped 13% to hit CHF 1.3 billion ($1.6 billion). Other standout products include the eye medicine Vabysmo, the cancer drug Tecentriq and the anti-inflammatory Xolair.

Twitter LinkedIn Facebook Email Print Pipeline Earnings CAR-T Roche Tristan Manalac Tristan is BioSpace‘s senior staff writer. Based in Metro Manila, Tristan has more than eight years of experience writing about medicine, biotech and science. He can be reached at tristan.manalac@biospace.com, tristan@tristanmanalac.com or on LinkedIn.