On January 6, 2022 F-star Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: FSTX), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to developing next generation bispecific immunotherapies to transform the lives of patients with cancer, reported that Ares Trading S.A., an affiliate of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany has exercised a fourth licensing option to develop another bispecific program under the ongoing immuno-oncology collaboration (Press release, F-star, JAN 6, 2022, View Source [SID1234598316]). Under the terms of the agreement, Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany will be responsible for all future development and commercialization costs and will pay future success-based milestones and royalties on any net sales, resulting from programs covered by the agreement.
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The two companies have had a long standing and successful partnership and in May of 2019 Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, exercised its option to bring a first program from the collaboration into its pipeline. In July 2020, Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany took an early option to a second program and in March 2021, a third option was exercised. With the fourth option now exercised, the total potential remaining milestone-based revenue due to F-star from this immuno-oncology collaboration with Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany is approximately $765 million.
Eliot Forster, CEO of F-star Therapeutics, Inc, said: "We were delighted to see the recent data presented by Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, from our long-standing collaboration at the recent SITC (Free SITC Whitepaper) conference, demonstrating the unique potential of the F-star bispecific platform. This latest licensing option marks another positive milestone in our collaboration and it is exciting to see our partner successfully progress another mAb2 based program. Along with our internal pipeline, we believe all of these next generation immuno-oncology programs will make a real difference to the lives of patients with cancer."