LEXINGTON, Mass., March 13, 2019 /PRNewswire/ --
Agenus Inc. (NASDAQ: AGEN), an immuno-oncology (I-O)
company with
a pipeline of immune checkpoint antibodies,
cancer vaccines and adoptive
cell therapies1, announced today
that the FDA has accepted the company's
IND filing for
AGEN1423 - a milestone in its partnership
with Gilead Sciences,
Inc. This milestone triggered a
cash payment of $7.5M. Agenus is
eligible to
receive additional milestone payments in 2019
and beyond.
"This marks the first milestones in our
collaboration with Gilead," said Garo H. Armen,
Ph.D., Chairman and CEO of Agenus. "AGEN1423 is
a first-in-class molecule which we designed to
block mechanisms that tumors use to escape and grow;
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 also eligible
for approximately $1.7 billion in
potential future fees and milestones. Gilead
received worldwide exclusive rights to AGEN1423, and
exclusive option to license two additional programs: AGEN1223
and AGEN2373. Agenus is responsible for
developing the option programs up to the option
decision points, at which time
Gilead may acquire exclusive rights to the
programs on option exercise. For one of
the option programs, Agenus will have the right
to opt-in to shared development and
commercialization in the U.S. Gilead also received
right of first negotiation for two
additional, undisclosed preclinical programs.
AGEN1423, AGEN1223 and AGEN2373 are investigational agents that have 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 by pursuing combination
approaches that leverage a broad repertoire of
antibody therapeutics, proprietary cancer
vaccine platforms, and adoptive cell therapies
(through its AgenTus Therapeutics subsidiary). 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 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 AGEN1423, 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.