On August 28, 2019 Agenus Inc. (NASDAQ: AGEN), an immuno-oncology (I-O) company with a pipeline of immune checkpoint antibodies, adoptive cell therapies1 and cancer vaccines, reported that the FDA has accepted the company’s IND filing for AGEN1223, a milestone in its partnership with Gilead Sciences, Inc (Press release, Agenus, AUG 28, 2019, View Source [SID1234539051]). This milestone triggers a cash payment of $7.5M.
Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:
Early/Late Stage Pipeline Development - Target Scouting - Clinical Biomarkers - Indication Selection & Expansion - BD&L Contacts - Conference Reports - Combinatorial Drug Settings - Companion Diagnostics - Drug Repositioning - First-in-class Analysis - Competitive Analysis - Deals & Licensing
Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!
"This announcement represents the third milestone delivered in our collaboration with Gilead this year," said Garo H. Armen, Ph.D., Chairman and CEO of Agenus. "AGEN1223 is a first-in-class bispecific designed to selectively deplete immune-suppressing cells (regulatory T cells) from the tumor microenvironment while boosting cancer-fighting effector T cells and sparing important peripheral regulatory T cells – an important mechanism not addressed with current therapies."
The collaboration between the two companies was announced in December 2018. Under the terms of the agreement, Agenus received $150 million in upfront cash payment and equity investment and is eligible for approximately $1.7 billion in future fees and milestones.
AGEN1223 is an investigational agent that has not been approved for any uses. Efficacy and safety have not been established.