Less than a year after it acquired Potenza Therapeutics to break into the immuno-oncology market, Astellas Pharma has now licensed the global rights to RIKEN’s artificial adjuvant vector cell (aAVC) technology for selected cancer antigen targets. RIKEN’s aAVC formulations work by stimulating both the innate and adaptive immunity to attack cancer cells, unlike typical immunotherapies. The deal builds on an existing option agreement between the pair in which Astellas has now advanced ASP7517 into Phase I/II trials for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia and myelodysplastic syndrome.