AbelZeta Pharma, Inc., a global clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, amended its worldwide collaboration and license agreement with Janssen Biotech, Inc., a Johnson & Johnson company. Under the amended agreement, Janssen will have the option to obtain exclusive commercialization rights in China for CD20-directed chimeric antigen receptor T (CAR-T) C-CAR039 and C-CAR066, which are being studied for the treatment of Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma (NHL).

Janssen will pay AbelZeta Pharma an option exercise fee, and AbelZeta Pharma is eligible to receive commercialization and sales milestones.

“As presented recently at the 65th ASH Annual Meeting, the clinical data for both C-CAR039 and C-CAR066 continue to support the potential of both assets to be best in disease in relapsed or refractory (r/r) NHL,” said Tony (Bizuo) Liu, Chairman and CEO of the Company. “The Centre for Drug Evaluation in China has approved the Investigational New Drug (IND) application for C-CAR039, and we are currently conducting the Phase 1b study. We are excited to leverage AbelZeta’s clinical development and product manufacturing capabilities together with Janssen’s global commercialization expertise to maximize the potential of C-CAR039 and C-CAR066 to bring innovative and life-changing therapies to patients in China and worldwide.”