LEXINGTON, Mass., Aug. 8,
2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Agenus Inc. (NASDAQ: AGEN), an
immuno-oncology (I-O) company with
a pipeline of immune checkpoint antibodies,
adoptive cell therapies1 and cancer
vaccines, announced today that the FDA has
accepted the company's IND filing for AGEN2373,
a milestone in its partnership with Gilead Sciences,
Inc. This milestone triggers a
cash payment of $7.5M. Agenus is
eligible to
receive additional milestone payments this year
and beyond.
"This IND clearance underscores our continued commitment to
delivering novel and best-in-class therapies to patients with
cancer with the utmost urgency," said Garo H. Armen,
Ph.D., Chairman and CEO of Agenus. "AGEN2373 has unique
binding properties and is designed to mitigate the toxicity
observed with competitor molecules; we believe that this
molecule has great potential for patients with
cancer."
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.
AGEN2373 is
an investigational agent that has not been
approved for any uses.
Efficacy and safety have not
been established.
About Agenus
Agenus is a clinical-stage
immuno-oncology company focused on the
discovery and development of therapies that engage
the body's immune system to fight
cancer. The Company's vision is to expand
the patient populations benefiting from cancer
immunotherapy with combination approaches that leverage
a broad repertoire of
antibody therapeutics, adoptive cell therapies
(through its AgenTus Therapeutics subsidiary) and its
proprietary cancer vaccine platforms. Agenus has
a suite
of antibody discovery platforms and
a state-of-the-art
GMP manufacturing facility with the capacity to
support early phase clinical programs. Agenus is
headquartered in Lexington, MA. For more
information, please
visit www.agenusbio.com and our twitter
handle @agenus_bio. Information that may be
important to investors will be
routinely posted on our website
and twitter.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release
contains forward-looking statements
that are made pursuant to the
safe harbor provisions of the federal
securities laws, including statements regarding the
potential benefits of AGEN2373, as
well as future potential royalty and milestone
payments from Gilead. These forward-looking statements are
subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause
actual results to differ materially. These risks and uncertainties
include, among others, the factors
described under the Risk Factors section of
our most recent Quarterly Report on
Form 10-Q or Annual Report on Form
10-K filed with the Securities and
Exchange Commission. Agenus cautions investors not
to place considerable reliance on
the forward-looking statements contained in this
release. These statements speak only as of the
date of this press release, and Agenus
undertakes no obligation to update or revise the
statements, other than to the extent required by law.
All forward-looking statements are
expressly qualified in their entirety by this
cautionary statement.
Contact:
Agenus Inc.
Jennifer S. Buell, PhD
781-674-4420
jennifer.buell@agenusbio.com
1Through AgenTus Therapeutics,
a subsidiary of Agenus
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SOURCE Agenus Inc.