Shares of Adaptimmune Therapeutics (NASDAQ: ADAP) were up as much as 9.7% early Tuesday after the clinical-stage biotech announced that it had reached an agreement with (NYSE: GSK) to return the rights to Adaptimmune's PRAME and NY-ESO cell therapy programs. The stock is down more than 17% this year.

Adaptimmune focuses on therapies to treat cancer in solid tumors through its SPEAR (for Specific Peptide Enhanced Affinity Receptor) T-cell platform. The company has four SPEAR T-cells in trials: MAGE-A10, MAGE-A4, AFP, and NY-ESO.

There were two important parts in the company's announcement. GSK, formerly known as GlaxoSmithKline, is paying Adaptimmune 30 million pounds (around $37 million) as part of the agreement, and Adaptimmune said it expects an Investigational New Drug Application with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) this year for its PRAME targeted TCR T-cell therapy to treat solid tumors. 

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Source Fool.com