Date: 2015-06-03
Type of information: R&D agreement
Compound: therapeutic antibodies to Merck proprietary immune checkpoints
Company: Agenus (USA - MA) Merck&Co (USA - NJ)
Therapeutic area: Cancer - Oncology
Type agreement: R&D
Action mechanism: monoclonal antibody/immune checkpoint inhibitor
Disease:
Details: * On April 28, 2014, Agenus Iannounced that the company has entered into a collaboration and license agreement with Merck&Co for the discovery and development of therapeutic antibodies to immune checkpoints for the treatment of cancer. Under the terms of the agreement, Agenus will discover and optimize fully human antibodies against two undisclosed Merck&Co checkpoint targets using the 4-Antibody Retrocyte Display® platform. Merck&Co will be responsible for clinical development and commercialization of candidates generated under the collaboration. Agenus acquired 4-Antibody, a private European-based biopharmaceutical company in February 2014. The 4-Antibody assets include the Retrocyte Display technology platform for discovery and optimization of fully human antibodies against a wide array of molecular targets. Agenus has multiple preclinical checkpoint modulator programs in development including GITR and OX40 agonists and antagonists of TIM-3, LAG-3, PD-1 and CTLA-4. These programs are being pursued through a strategic collaboration with Ludwig Cancer Research.
Financial terms: Under the terms of the agreement, Agenus is eligible to receive approximately $100 million in potential payments associated with the completion of certain clinical, regulatory and commercial milestones for two candidates from Merck. In addition, Agenus is eligible to receive royalty payments on worldwide product sales.
Latest news: * On June 3, 2015 Agenus announced that Merck&Co has extended its collaborative research term under its existing collaboration and license agreement with Agenus, for the discovery and development of therapeutic antibodies to Merck proprietary immune checkpoints for the treatment of cancer. Under the terms of the original agreement, Agenus will discover and optimize fully human antibodies against two undisclosed Merck checkpoint targets using the Retrocyte Display™ platform. Merck&Co will be responsible for the further development and commercialization of candidates generated under the collaboration. The discovery phase has been extended to April 2016.
