Full Press Release Details
Extends Immuno-Oncology Collaboration with Agenus
involves two proprietary Merck targets
LEXINGTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 3, 2015--Agenus Inc. (NASDAQ:
AGEN), an immunology company developing innovative treatments for
cancers and other diseases, announced today that Merck, known as MSD
outside the United States and Canada, through a subsidiary, has extended
its collaborative research term under its existing collaboration and
license agreement with Agenus, for the discovery and development of
therapeutic antibodies to Merck proprietary immune checkpoints for the
treatment of cancer.
Under the terms of the original agreement, Agenus will discover and
optimize fully human antibodies against two undisclosed Merck checkpoint
targets using the Retrocyte Display platform. Merck
will be responsible for the further development and commercialization of
candidates generated under the collaboration. The discovery phase has
been extended to April 2016. As previously disclosed, under the terms of
the agreement, Agenus is eligible to receive approximately $100 million
in milestone payments as well as royalties on worldwide product sales.
"This collaboration has resulted in encouraging outcomes, and we're
delighted that a leader in the rapidly developing immuno-oncology space
has elected to extend this discovery phase of our collaboration," said
Robert Stein, MD, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer of Agenus Inc. "We
believe our antibody generating technology is now the most extensive in
vitro platform in the industry with significant advantages for
creation of high quality antibody candidates."
Agenus is an immunology company developing a
series of Checkpoint Modulators for the treatment of patients with
cancer, infectious diseases, and other immune disorders, heat shock
protein (HSP)-based vaccines, and immune adjuvants. These programs are
supported by three separate technology platforms. Agenus' internal and
partnered checkpoint modulator programs target GITR, OX40, CTLA-4,
LAG-3, TIM-3, PD-1 and other undisclosed programs. The company's
proprietary discovery engine Retrocyte DisplayTM is used to
generate fully human and humanized therapeutic antibody drug candidates.
The Retrocyte Display platform uses a high-throughput approach
incorporating IgG format human antibody libraries expressed in mammalian
B-lineage cells. Agenus recently acquired a powerful yeast antibody
display platform termed SECANT, developed by Celexion, LLC. SECANT
allows rapid generation of soluble, full-length human antibodies. SECANT
and Agenus' mammalian antibody display platform have complementary
strengths and further bolster Agenus' abilities to generate and optimize
fully human monoclonal antibodies. Agenus' heat shock protein-based
vaccines have completed Phase 2 studies in newly diagnosed glioblastoma
multiforme, and in the treatment of herpes simplex viral infection; the
heat shock protein-based vaccine platform can generate personalized as
well as off the shelf products. The company's QS-21 Stimulon adjuvant
platform is extensively partnered with GlaxoSmithKline and with Janssen
Sciences Ireland UC and includes several candidates in Phase 2 trials,
as well as shingles and malaria vaccines which have successfully
completed Phase 3 clinical trials. For more information, please visit www.agenusbio.com,
or connect with the company on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Google+;
information that may be important to investors will be routinely posted
Forward-Looking Statement
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 future research and development efforts of Agenus and its
collaboration partners and the potential for Agenus to receive milestone
and royalty payments for product candidates. 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 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.
Andrea Rabney/Jamie Maarten, 212-600-1902