AVC-203 - (QUADvance)

Sept. 24, 2026: Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: LGND) announced a financing agreement with AvenCell Therapeutics for up to $47 million to support AvenCell’s cell therapy pipeline. Ligand committed up to $41 million in exchange for a mid single-digit to low double-digit royalty on worldwide annual net sales of all current and future AvenCell pipeline assets, with the royalty rate tied to the total amount funded. The funding will be provided in four tranches, with later tranches contingent on predetermined clinical milestones and financing conditions. Ligand also committed up to $6 million in a concurrent Series C financing.

Programs mentioned: AVC-201, an anti-CD123 CAR-T for relapsed/refractory acute myeloid leukemia, is in a Phase 1b expansion trial; AVC-203 for B-cell malignancies is in Phase 1a. The press release says the financing is intended to help advance these programs and cites encouraging clinical data to date with AVC-201, but provides no efficacy or safety details.

This is a business-development/financing catalyst rather than a clinical or regulatory decision, with future funding tied to clinical milestone achievement.