Armed Cell Therapeutics, a Belgian startup chaired by Paul Stoffels, has taken over the cell therapy programs that Lakefront Biotherapeutics — formerly Galapagos — had wound down. The company will pay €8 million upfront and potentially up to $230 million in future milestones for two "armed" CAR-T therapies nearing human testing in non-Hodgkin lymphoma and small cell lung cancer, plus three early preclinical projects.
The lead programs use multiple payloads and different molecular binders to evade the biological resistance mechanisms that exhaust engineered cells, particularly in solid tumors. John Mellors, the startup's chief scientific officer, said the therapies are designed to overcome limits of current cell therapies, from relapse in lymphoma to the suppressive environment of solid tumors.
The sale revives research that Stoffels once spearheaded during his tenure as Galapagos CEO, after the company pivoted to cell therapy and then reversed course following setbacks and layoffs. Lakefront, now focused on autoimmune diseases, said the deal provides a path to continue advancing the assets. Willemijn Kremer, a former Galapagos vice president for cell therapy corporate development, will take over as Armed Cell's CEO from Stoffels, who had been serving as interim CEO.