UNITED
STATES
SECURITIES
AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington,
D.C. 20549
FORM
8-K
CURRENT
REPORT
Pursuant
to Section 13 or 15(d) of The Securities Exchange Act of 1934
Date
of Report (Date of earliest event reported): October
3, 2014
ARIAD
Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
(Exact
name of registrant as specified in its charter)
Delaware
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0-36172
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22-3106987
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(State
or other jurisdiction
of
incorporation)
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(Commission
File
Number)
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(I.R.S.
Employer
Identification
No.)
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26 Landsdowne Street, Cambridge,
Massachusetts
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02139
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(Address
of principal executive offices)
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(Zip
Code)
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Registrant's telephone number, including
area code: (617) 494-0400
Not
Applicable
(Former
name or former address, if changed since last report)
Check the
appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to
simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any
of the following provisions (see General Instruction A.2.
below):
⃞
Written
communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR
230.425)
⃞
Soliciting
material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR
240.14a-12)
⃞
Pre-commencement
communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR
240.14d-2(b))
⃞
Pre-commencement
communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR
240.13e-4(c))
ITEM 1.01 Entry into a Material Definitive Agreement
On October 3, 2014, ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (“ARIAD”) and Bellicum
Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (“Bellicum”) entered into an Omnibus Amendment
Agreement (the “Agreement”) that restructures the parties’ previous
Amended and Restated License Agreement dated March 7, 2011 (the “License
Agreement”) for ARIAD’s cell-signaling technology. Under the terms of
the Agreement, ARIAD will receive $50 million, payable in three
installments, in exchange for granting Bellicum a fully paid-up license
to this technology and the return of ARIAD’s equity stake in Bellicum
upon receipt of the second installment payment. The scope of the license
and the field of use were also expanded as part of the Agreement.
Under the terms of the Agreement, ARIAD is entitled to receive $50
million in three installments: $15 million upon signing of the
Agreement, $20 million by June 30, 2015, and $15 million by June 30,
2016. The second and third installments, which are subject to a
subordinated promissory note issued by Bellicum, may be accelerated
under certain circumstances and can be prepaid at any time.
The Agreement gives Bellicum a worldwide exclusive license, with the
right to sublicense, to ARIAD’s cell-signaling technology for broad use
in human cell therapies for all diseases on a royalty- and
milestone-free basis.
The Agreement can be terminated by either party upon a specified uncured
material breach of the License Agreement or the Agreement, and by ARIAD
upon Bellicum’s failure to make the installment payments after specified
dates.
The foregoing description of the Agreement does not purport to be
complete and is qualified in its entirety by reference to such
agreement, which ARIAD intends to file as an exhibit to its Annual
Report on Form 10-K for the year ending December 31, 2014.
A copy of the press release issued by ARIAD announcing the entry into
the Agreement is attached hereto as Exhibit 99.1 and is incorporated
herein by reference.
ITEM 9.01 Financial Statements and Exhibits
(d) The following exhibit is filed with this report:
Exhibit
Number
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Description
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99.1
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Press Release dated October 6, 2014.
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The press release contains hypertext links to information on our website
and/or other websites. The information on our website and any other
website is not incorporated by reference into this Current Report on
Form 8-K and does not constitute a part of this Form 8-K.
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the
registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the
undersigned hereunto duly authorized.
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ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
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By:
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/s/ Edward M. Fitzgerald
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Edward M. Fitzgerald
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Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer
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Date:
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October 9, 2014
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3
Exhibit 99.1
ARIAD and
Bellicum Announce Revised License Agreement for ARIAD’s Cell-Signaling
Technology
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. & HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--October 6, 2014--ARIAD
Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARIA) and Bellicum Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
today announced a restructuring of their license agreement for ARIAD’s
cell-signaling technology. ARIAD will receive $50 million in exchange
for a fully paid up license to this technology and return of its equity
stake in closely held Bellicum. The scope of the license and the field
of use were also expanded as part of the amendment.
Under the terms of the revised agreement, ARIAD will receive $50 million
in three installments: $15 million upon signing of the agreement, $20
million by June 30, 2015, and $15 million by June 30, 2016. The last
payment may be accelerated to the fourth quarter of 2015 under certain
circumstances. The restructured agreement gives Bellicum a worldwide
exclusive license to ARIAD’s cell-signaling technology for broad use in
human cell therapies for all diseases on a royalty- and milestone-free
basis.
ARIAD’s technology involves the use of a small-molecule drug, such as
AP1903, to activate cell signaling and other cellular events. Bellicum
is developing controllable stem-cell transplant, chimeric-antigen
receptor (CAR) T cell and cancer vaccine product candidates in a variety
of blood and solid tumor cancers and in non-malignant genetic diseases.
“This license restructuring allows Bellicum to fully exploit our
specialized cell signaling switches and related platforms, free of
future royalty or milestone obligations to ARIAD,” stated Tom Farrell,
Bellicum’s chief executive officer. “The expanded license also includes
additional cell-signaling technology that may enable future products
with dual control switches.”
“The amended agreement with Bellicum allows ARIAD to realize substantial
non-dilutive funding from our legacy program based on small-molecule
regulation of cell signaling, while maintaining our strategic focus on
bringing breakthrough medicines to cancer patients in need,” said Harvey
J. Berger, M.D., chairman and chief executive officer of ARIAD.
Outside the Bellicum field of use, ARIAD has also licensed certain
aspects of the technology to REGENXBIO, Inc., and Clontech
Laboratories, Inc. These license agreements remain unchanged.
About Bellicum Pharmaceuticals
Bellicum is developing safer and more effective cell therapies to treat
cancers and other chronic and life-threatening diseases. The Company’s
proprietary cell-based therapies incorporate either the CaspaCIDe®
self-destruct switch to enable the rapid elimination of cell treatments
that become toxic, or the DeCIDe® activation switch for controlled
activation of dendritic cells to improve efficacy and safety. Cells
engineered with either CaspaCIDe or DeCIDe are activated via infusion
with the small-molecule drug AP1903. Bellicum is advancing clinical
programs in cellular transplants to reduce or eliminate graft vs. host
disease, and in prostate cancer with a potentially more potent
immunotherapy. The Company’s product discovery group is also working on
novel technologies for controlled expansion and activation of other cell
types, including CAR T cells, TCRs and TILs. For more information,
please visit www.bellicum.com.
About ARIAD
ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Inc., headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts
and Lausanne, Switzerland, is an integrated global oncology company
focused on transforming the lives of cancer patients with breakthrough
medicines. ARIAD is working on new medicines to advance the treatment of
various forms of chronic and acute leukemia, lung cancer and other
difficult-to-treat cancers. ARIAD utilizes computational and structural
approaches to design small-molecule drugs that overcome resistance to
existing cancer medicines. For additional information, visit http://www.ariad.com or
follow ARIAD on Twitter (@ARIADPharm).
This press release contains “forward-looking statements” including, but
not limited to, statements relating to future payment obligations, ARIAD
and Bellicum cell-signaling technologies, and the development of future
products. Forward-looking statements are based on management's
expectations and are subject to certain factors, risks and uncertainties
that may cause actual results, outcome of events, timing and performance
to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements.
These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to,
preclinical data and early-stage clinical data that may not be
replicated in later-stage clinical studies, and other factors detailed
in ARIAD's public filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission. The information contained in this press release is believed
to be current as of the date of original issue. After the date of this
document, neither ARIAD nor Bellicum intends to update any of the
forward-looking statements to conform to actual results or to changes in
their expectations, except as required by law.
CONTACT:
For ARIAD Investors
Kendra Adams, 617-503-7028
Kendra.adams@ariad.com
or
For
ARIAD Media
Liza Heapes, 617-621-2315
Liza.heapes@ariad.com
or
For
Bellicum Investors
Peter Rahmer, 646-378-2973
prahmer@troutgroup.com
or
For
Bellicum Media
Brad Miles, 646-513-3125
bmiles@bmccommunications.com
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