Agenus to Receive $20M Milestone Payment from Bristol Myers Squibb with Dosing of First Patient with its TIGIT Bispecific Antibody
October 12 2021 - 8:30AM
Agenus Inc. (NASDAQ: AGEN), an immuno-oncology company with an
extensive pipeline of checkpoint antibodies, cell therapies,
adjuvants, and vaccines designed to activate immune response to
cancers and infections, today announced it has triggered the first
development milestone payment under its global licensing agreement
with Bristol Myers Squibb for AGEN1777, an Fc-enhanced bispecific
anti-TIGIT antibody. Agenus will receive a $20 million cash payment
with the dosing of the first patient.
“AGEN1777 represents Agenus’ latest innovation to activate the
immune system against cancer and combat therapeutic resistance, as
well as our fifth pharmaceutical collaboration to reach clinical
development,” said Steven O’Day, MD, Chief Medical Officer of
Agenus. “With AGEN1777’s unique mechanism of action and Bristol
Myers Squibb’s immuno-oncology expertise, our goal is to
efficiently evaluate AGEN1777’s benefit in difficult to treat
tumors.”
This Phase 1 dose escalation study is designed to evaluate the
safety, tolerability, and preliminary clinical activity of AGEN1777
as a single agent and in combination with a PD-1 inhibitor in
patients with advanced solid tumors. The first patient was treated
at Providence Cancer Institute by Dr. Rachel Sanborn. The trial
will follow a standard dose-escalation design and will be used to
establish the recommended Phase 2 dose (RP2D).
Bristol Myers Squibb intends to advance the research and
development of AGEN1777 in immuno-oncology for high priority tumor
indications including non-small cell lung cancer.
The global license agreement with Bristol Myers Squibb included
a $200 million upfront payment paid in July 2021, and up to $1.36
billion in development, regulatory and commercial milestones in
addition to tiered double-digit royalties on net product sales.
Bristol Myers Squibb is solely responsible for the development and
commercialization of AGEN1777 and its related products worldwide.
Agenus retains options to conduct clinical studies under the
development plan, to conduct combination studies with certain other
Agenus pipeline assets, to co-fund global development for increased
US royalties, and to co-promote AGEN1777 in the US upon
commercialization.
About AGEN1777AGEN1777 is a potentially
first-in-class bispecific anti-TIGIT antibody engineered with an
enhanced Fc region for high binding affinity and improved T and NK
cell activation.
About AgenusAgenus 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 by pursuing combination approaches that
leverage a broad repertoire of antibody therapeutics, adoptive cell
therapies (through its MiNK Therapeutics subsidiary), adjuvants,
and proprietary cancer vaccine platforms. The Company is equipped
with a suite of antibody discovery platforms and a state-of-the-art
GMP manufacturing facility with the capacity to support 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 StatementsThis press release
contains forward-looking statements that are made pursuant to the
safe harbor provisions of the federal securities laws, including
statements regarding AGEN1777 and its future clinical trials,
potential clinical benefit, and future product development plans
for AGEN1777 alone and in combination with other agents together
with statements regarding Agenus’ potential to receive future
milestones and royalties pursuant to the BMS license agreement.
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.
ContactAgenus Investor
RelationsDivya Vasudevan,
PhDAgenus781-674-4571divya.vasudevan@agenusbio.com
Agenus Media RelationsKimberly
HaKKH Advisors917-291-5744kimberly.ha@kkhadvisors.com
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