Adaptive Biotechnologies Announces Two Immune Receptor Licensing Agreements with Pfizer
Rhea-AI Summary
Adaptive Biotechnologies (NASDAQ: ADPT) announced two non-exclusive agreements with Pfizer on Dec 15, 2025: a target discovery collaboration to identify disease-specific T-cell receptors (TCRs) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) using Pfizer clinical samples, and a data licensing deal giving Pfizer access to Adaptive’s TCR-antigen datasets for AI/ML model training across immunology programs.
Adaptive will lead RA target discovery while Pfizer handles development and commercialization. Adaptive will receive an upfront payment and may earn additional milestone and licensing fees, with RA-related milestones potentially totaling about $890 million; specific financial terms are not disclosed.
Positive
- Upfront payment for both Pfizer agreements
- RA milestones potentially totaling $890 million
- Non-exclusive data license to Adaptive’s large TCR-antigen dataset
- Collaboration uses Pfizer clinical samples for disease-specific TCR discovery
Negative
- Pfizer responsible for all development and commercialization of RA therapies
- Significant milestone payments are contingent and not guaranteed
- Specific financial terms for data licensing and upfronts were not disclosed
Key Figures
Market Reality Check
Peers on Argus
Peers show mixed moves: AGIO (-0.91%), GLPG (-1.74%), TARS (-1.19%) are down, while IDYA (+0.74%) and TVTX (+0.14%) are slightly up, indicating this Pfizer agreement reads as stock-specific rather than a broad biotech move.
Historical Context
| Date | Event | Sentiment | Move | Catalyst |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 09 | MRD fireside chat | Neutral | -0.6% | Participation in Jefferies fireside chat focused on MRD and clonoSEQ. |
| Nov 24 | ASH data update | Positive | +9.9% | clonoSEQ MRD featured in 89 abstracts and 36 oral presentations at ASH. |
| Nov 06 | Investor conferences | Neutral | -5.0% | Participation in Jefferies and Piper Sandler healthcare investor conferences. |
| Nov 05 | Q3 2025 earnings | Positive | +4.0% | Strong Q3 revenue growth, MRD cash-flow positivity, and raised MRD guidance. |
| Oct 15 | Earnings date notice | Neutral | +0.9% | Announcement of timing and access details for Q3 2025 earnings call. |
Substantial clinical or data milestones and earnings (e.g., ASH abstracts, Q3 results) have previously aligned with positive price reactions, while conference participation alone has seen muted or negative moves.
Over the last few months, Adaptive highlighted MRD and immune-medicine momentum. Q3 2025 results on Nov 5 showed $94.0M revenue and raised MRD guidance, with shares rising 3.96%. ASH data news on Nov 24 featuring 89 clonoSEQ abstracts and 36 oral presentations saw a 9.94% jump. In contrast, multiple investor-conference and fireside-chat announcements had modest negative or small positive reactions, underscoring that investors have focused more on concrete data and financial updates than on visibility events. Today’s Pfizer agreements extend that data/partnership narrative.
Market Pulse Summary
This announcement details two non-exclusive agreements with Pfizer, including target discovery in rheumatoid arthritis and licensing of TCR-antigen datasets, with potential milestones totaling about $890 million. It builds on prior momentum in MRD and immune-medicine collaborations highlighted in Q3 2025 results and ASH abstracts. Investors may watch for concrete milestone triggers, expansion of similar data partnerships, and how these agreements translate into reported collaboration revenue over time.
Key Terms
t-cell receptors (tcrs) medical
autoimmune medical
AI-generated analysis. Not financial advice.
A target discovery agreement to identify disease-specific T-cell receptors (TCRs) in rheumatoid arthritis
A data licensing agreement to access Adaptive’s proprietary TCR-antigen datasets for research and development in multiple immunology applications
SEATTLE, Dec. 15, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Adaptive Biotechnologies Corporation (NASDAQ: ADPT), a commercial stage biotechnology company that aims to translate the genetics of the adaptive immune system into clinical products to diagnose and treat disease, today announced two non-exclusive agreements with Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) to leverage Adaptive’s proprietary T-cell receptor (TCR) discovery capabilities and large-scale immune receptor antigen mapping data.
Discovering disease-causing TCRs in rheumatoid arthritis
Adaptive has identified autoreactive or ‘offender’ TCRs that could potentially cause disease in patients with autoimmune indications.
Pfizer will utilize Adaptive’s immune medicine platform to identify disease-causing TCRs as potential therapeutic targets in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Under this agreement, Adaptive will apply its platform to Pfizer’s clinical samples to identify the subset of common TCRs that are significantly enriched in RA patients. Pfizer will use these data to accelerate its research and development of potential therapeutic candidates for RA.
Licensing Adaptive’s TCR-antigen datasets
Adaptive has generated what it believes is the largest and highest quality TCR-antigen binding dataset relative to what is publicly available. Under this agreement, Pfizer has licensed certain Adaptive TCR-antigen data for its use in developing and training Pfizer’s AI and machine learning models to accelerate research and drug discovery in multiple disease areas.
“Using our AI-enabled immune medicine platform, Adaptive has amassed a treasure trove of immune receptor data along with an enhanced understanding of T-cell biology,” said Chad Robins, chief executive officer and co-founder of Adaptive Biotechnologies. “This deep and well-characterized immune system data has the potential to inform discoveries across immunology programs that may lead to next-generation therapeutics in RA.”
Under the RA agreement, Adaptive will lead target discovery activities to identify disease-specific RA TCRs. Pfizer will be responsible for all development, and commercialization of therapies identified using Adaptive’s target discovery work. Adaptive will receive an upfront payment and may be eligible to receive additional, potential data delivery, development, commercial and sales milestones that could total up to about
Under the TCR-antigen data licensing agreement, Adaptive will receive an upfront payment and additional future potential annual licensing fees under this non-exclusive, multi-year data access agreement. Specific financial terms of the agreement will not be disclosed.
About Adaptive Biotechnologies
Adaptive Biotechnologies (“we” or “our”) is a commercial-stage biotechnology company focused on harnessing the inherent biology of the adaptive immune system to transform the diagnosis and treatment of disease. We believe the adaptive immune system is nature’s most finely tuned diagnostic and therapeutic for most diseases, but the inability to decode it has prevented the medical community from fully leveraging its capabilities. Our proprietary immune medicine platform reveals and translates the massive genetics of the adaptive immune system with scale, precision and speed. We apply our platform to partner with biopharmaceutical companies, inform drug development, and develop clinical diagnostics across our two business segments: Minimal Residual Disease (MRD) and Immune Medicine. Our commercial products and clinical pipeline enable the diagnosis, monitoring, and treatment of diseases such as cancer and autoimmune disorders. Our goal is to develop and commercialize immune-driven clinical products tailored to each individual patient.
Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements that are based on management’s beliefs and assumptions and on information currently available to management. All statements contained in this release other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements, including statements regarding our ability to achieve any milestones under the RA Agreement, our ability to develop, commercialize and achieve market acceptance of our current and planned products and services, our research and development efforts, and other matters regarding our business strategies, use of capital, results of operations and financial position, and plans and objectives for future operations.
In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by the words “may,” “will,” “could,” “would,” “should,” “expect,” “intend,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “predict,” “project,” “potential,” “continue,” “ongoing” or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology, although not all forward-looking statements contain these words. These statements involve risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from the information expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include our ability to identify autoreactive TCRs that can cause disease in RA patients, Pfizer’s control over development and commercialization of any potential therapeutics candidates, and other factors that are described under “Risk Factors,” “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and elsewhere in the documents we file with the Securities and Exchange Commission from time to time. We caution you that forward-looking statements are based on a combination of facts and factors currently known by us and our projections of the future, about which we cannot be certain. As a result, the forward-looking statements may not prove to be accurate. The forward-looking statements in this press release represent our views as of the date hereof. We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements for any reason, except as required by law.
ADAPTIVE INVESTORS
Karina Calzadilla, Vice President, Investor Relations
201-396-1687
investors@adaptivebiotech.com
ADAPTIVE MEDIA
Erica Jones, Associate Director, Corporate Communications
206-279-2423
media@adaptivebiotech.com
FAQ
What did Adaptive Biotechnologies announce on Dec 15, 2025 regarding ADPT and Pfizer?
How much could Adaptive (ADPT) earn from the Pfizer rheumatoid arthritis agreement?
What responsibilities does Pfizer have under the ADPT–Pfizer RA collaboration?
What data did Pfizer license from Adaptive (ADPT) and for what purpose?
Are the Adaptive–Pfizer agreements exclusive to either company for ADPT technologies?
Will Adaptive (ADPT) lead research activities in the rheumatoid arthritis collaboration?
