Cartography Biosciences and Pfizer Collaborate to Identify Tumour-Selective Antigens
Wednesday, January 07, 2026
Cartography Biosciences, Inc., a biotechnology company developing antibody-based cancer treatments, has entered into a strategic collaboration with Pfizer to discover tumour-selective antigens. The multi-year agreement will focus on identifying and validating antigens that are highly specific to cancer cells in an undisclosed disease area.
As part of the collaboration, Cartography will use its proprietary ATLAS and SUMMIT discovery platforms to find and validate suitable antigens. Pfizer will have the option to select multiple antigens from the work carried out and will take responsibility for the research, development and commercialisation of any resulting programmes. Cartography’s lead programme, CBI-1214, will continue to be fully owned and developed independently by the company.
The collaboration centres on the capabilities of the ATLAS and SUMMIT platforms, which are designed to address a long-standing challenge in cancer research: identifying targets that attack cancer cells while avoiding healthy tissue. By analysing antigen expression across both healthy and tumour cell states, the platforms aim to identify single antigens or antigen combinations with strong tumour selectivity. These platforms combine patient-derived data with computational biology, antigen validation and antibody engineering.
Under the agreement, Cartography may receive up to $65 million in upfront, near-term milestone and option exercise payments. The total potential value of the deal could exceed $850 million if all options are exercised. Cartography is also eligible for future development, regulatory and commercial milestone payments, along with tiered royalties on net sales for any programmes advanced by Pfizer under the collaboration.
Source: businesswire.com
