On December 17, 2012 4SC AG (Frankfurt, Prime Standard: VSC), a discovery and development company of targeted small molecule drugs for autoimmune diseases and cancer, reported that its fully-owned research subsidiary 4SC Discovery GmbH has entered into an exclusive worldwide research and license agreement with biopharmaceutical company BioNTech AG, Mainz, Germany (Press release, 4SC, DEC 17, 2012, View Source [SID1234523086]). The goal of the agreement is the development and commercialisation of 4SC’s new small molecule toll-like receptor (TLR) agonists as an anti-cancer immunotherapy.
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Under the agreement, 4SC Discovery will receive from BioNTech an upfront payment of EUR 2.5 million for its small molecule TLR agonists to be used as an anti-cancer immunotherapy. The programme is currently in early development. BioNTech will receive an exclusive license for worldwide marketing and commercialisation rights of the TLR agonists for use in cancer immunotherapy and in other therapeutic areas. 4SC Discovery is eligible for shares of sublicensing proceeds of BioNTech, payments for specific sales milestones as well as for royalties linked to product net sales.
Dr. Daniel Vitt, Managing Director of 4SC Discovery GmbH and Chief Scientific Officer at 4SC AG, commented: ‘We are very pleased to have won BioNTech – a pioneer in the field of cancer immunotherapies – as an ideal license partner for our TLR agonists. Our goal is now to speed-up and jointly develop a novel breakthrough therapy toward the market addressing the high medical need in the exciting field of cancer immunotherapy.’
Dr. Ulrich Dauer, Chief Executive Officer of 4SC AG, added: ‘We are proud that, only a year after launching its operations, our research subsidiary 4SC Discovery has entered into its first early-stage partnering deal with one of the programmes from our research engine and with such a highly innovative partner as BioNTech. After having already secured a number of research service collaborations with biotech and pharma companies this year, this first licensing partnership of 4SC Discovery is another strong signal for the value generation potential of 4SC’s research. It is also a clear fulfilment of the promise we made to the capital markets at the beginning of the year when we started 4SC Discovery with the strong intention to focus on the commercialisation of our early-stage research activities.’
Prof. Dr. Ugur Sahin, Chief Executive Officer of BioNTech AG, noted: ‘We are delighted to enter this partnership with 4SC Discovery – a company with a great track record and vast expertise in small molecule drug discovery in oncology. With 4SC’s TLR agonists, we expect to create additional value to our own proprietary cancer immunotherapy platform. We see a particular opportunity since TLR agonists, given as a supplementary therapy, are expected to increase the efficacy of our cancer immunotherapy programmes.’
Ends
About 4SC’s TLR research programme for cancer immunotherapy
4SC Discovery GmbH has a strong research focus on cancer immunotherapy, besides epigenetics and cancer stem cells. The aim of cancer immunotherapy is to develop substances that can influence the immune system of cancer patients in such a way that the patient’s immune system recognises and destroys the primary cancer cells and tumour metastases.
Toll-like receptors represent a promising target class for cancer immunotherapy. They represent a kind of alarm system in the human body. The activation of this alarm system, for instance by 4SC’s small molecule substances (TLR agonists), results in the stimulation of the immune system and a release of messenger and signaling molecules in the body, including interferons as well as other cytokines and chemokines. Applying a TLR agonist in combination with a chemotherapeutic drug, results in the destruction of the primary tumour bulk by the chemotherapeutic agent, while the activated immune system can achieve a final ‘clean up’ of undetectable tumour remainders which are otherwise often the cause for a later relapse of the disease. A further advantage of TLR agonists lies in the combination with various forms of vaccines. Thus TLR agonists have the potential to increase the efficacy of these cancer vaccines.
About BioNTech AG
BioNTech AG (Biopharmaceutical New Technologies) is a spin-off of Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz. As a holding company with six subsidiaries, BioNTech researches and develops novel immune-based technologies to boost the body’s immune system for the targeted treatment of numerous cancers. The company owns a number of cancer-specific target structures and uses proprietary technology platforms to develop medicines that are specifically directed against these target structures. BioNTech also researches, develops and manufactures diagnostics for the detection of cancer, based upon identification of selectively expressed biomarkers.