Repertoire Immune Medicines has collaborated with Bristol Myers Squibb to develop tolerising vaccines for autoimmune diseases.

The partnership will leverage Repertoire’s DECODE platform to map the immune synapse and create targeted treatments with the expertise of Bristol Myers Squibb in developing and commercialising new immune medicines.

It will develop selective, efficacious and durable treatments for patients with autoimmune diseases by resetting the immune system.

Repertoire will receive $65m upfront and could earn $1.8bn in additional payments, including development, regulatory and commercial milestones and tiered royalties.

The company will utilise its DECODE T cell receptor (TCR)-epitope discovery platform and lipid nanoparticle delivery technology to develop the tolerising vaccine development candidates.

The platform will also be used during clinical development to monitor immune responses to the tolerising vaccines in patients to provide insights into the vaccines’ pharmacodynamic effect.

Repertoire CEO Torben Straight Nissen stated: “This agreement is a recognition of the transformative power of Repertoire’s DECODE platform to discover and develop programmable T cell targeted immune medicines.

“This collaboration enables us to serve patients suffering from autoimmune diseases by translating our DECODE discoveries into potentially transformative medicines that address the underlying cause of their disease.”

Repertoire will spearhead the process up to the nomination of development candidates.

Under an exclusive worldwide licence, Bristol Myers Squibb will take charge of clinical development, regulatory affairs and the commercialisation of the vaccines globally.

Bristol Myers Squibb Immunology and Cardiovascular Thematic Research Center senior vice-president and head Francisco Ramírez-Valle stated: “Our collaboration with Repertoire aims to selectively reset the immune system, reflecting a key component of our immunology research strategy, which we believe may offer long-term benefit while mitigating unintended consequences associated with broad immune suppression.”

Earlier this month, Bristol Myers Squibb and 2seventy bio’s Abecma (idecabtagene vicleucel; ide-cel) obtained approval from the US Food and Drug Administration to treat adults with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma.