Date: 2012-07-30
Type of information: Product acquisition
Compound: PRO 140
Company: CytoDyn (Canada) Progenics Pharmaceuticals (USA - NY)
Therapeutic area: Infectious diseases
Type agreement: product acquisition
Action mechanism: monoclonal antibody/viral-entry inhibitor. PRO 140 belongs to a new class of HIV/AIDS therapeutics -- viral-entry inhibitors -- that are intended to protect healthy cells from viral infection. PRO 140 is a fully humanized IgG4 monoclonal antibody directed against CCR5, a molecular portal that HIV uses to enter T-cells. PRO 140 blocks the predominant HIV (R5) subtype entry into T-cells by masking this required co-receptor, CCR5. Importantly PRO 140 does not appear to interfere with the normal function of CCR5 in mediating immune responses. PRO 140 has been the subject of seven clinical trials, each demonstrating efficacy by significantly reducing or controlling HIV viral load in human test subjects. PRO 140 has been designated a \"fast track\" product candidate by the FDA. The PRO 140 antibody appears to be a powerful antiviral agent leading to potentially fewer side effects and less frequent dosing requirements as compared to daily drug therapies currently in use.
Disease: HIV infection
Details: * On July 30, 2012, CytoDyn, a development stage biotechnology company focused on the development of new therapies for combating infection with immune deficiency virus and other antibody applications, announced that the Company and Progenics Pharmaceuticals have entered into an asset purchase agreement, effective as of July 25, 2012 , pursuant to which the Company intends to acquire from Progenics its proprietary humanized monoclonal antibody HIV viral-entry inhibitor drug candidate, PRO 140.
Financial terms: The terms of the Agreement provide for an initial payment by Cytodyn to Progenics in the amount of $3.5 million and subsequent milestone payments conditioned on successful continued clinical development of PRO 140 and a royalty payment to Progenics based on net sales upon commercialization following final FDA approval.
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