Full Press Release Details
ROCKVILLE, Maryland and OSAKA, Japan, Sept. 29, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ROCKVILLE, Maryland and OSAKA, Japan - September 29, 2014 -
MacroGenics, Inc. (NASDAQ: MGNX) and Takeda Pharmaceutical Company
Limited jointly announced today that they have entered into a
collaboration agreement to develop and commercialize up to four
product candidates. These four research programs are in addition to
MGD010, which was the subject of a prior agreement announced in May
2014. Each of these product candidates will be directed
against jointly selected pairs of molecular targets and incorporate
MacroGenics' Dual-Affinity Re-Targeting (DART ) proprietary
"We are very pleased to increase our investment in finding
biotherapeutic treatments for critical diseases by expanding our
collaboration with MacroGenics. The breadth of our alliance
with MacroGenics underscores our confidence in their research and
development capabilities, as well as the robustness and versatility
of their bi-specific DART platform," said Tetsuyuki Maruyama,
Ph.D., General Manager of the Pharmaceutical Research Division at
Takeda. "We look forward to progressing the development of
multiple product candidates under our strategic collaboration with
Under the terms of this second agreement, Takeda receives an
option to obtain an exclusive worldwide license for each of the
four product candidates and will fund all research and development
activities related to the programs, including reimbursement of
MacroGenics' expenses. Assuming successful development and
commercialization by Takeda, MacroGenics could receive up to an
additional approximately $400 million in program initiation,
pre-clinical, clinical, regulatory and commercialization milestone
payments for each of four potential product candidates. If
commercialized, MacroGenics would receive double-digit royalties on
any global net sales and has the option to co-promote each product
candidate with Takeda in the United States. Finally,
MacroGenics may elect to fund a portion of Phase 3 clinical
development of each product candidate in exchange for a North
American profit share.
"We are delighted to enter our sixth DART collaboration
with a major pharmaceutical company that has proven global
development and commercialization capabilities," said Scott Koenig,
M.D., Ph.D., President and CEO of MacroGenics. "Building upon
MGD010, I am very excited about the opportunity to expand our
collaboration in the autoimmune area with an existing partner that
has demonstrated clear support in enabling us to further broaden
and accelerate our pipeline of innovative DART-based product
Background on DART Platform
MacroGenics' Dual-Affinity Re-Targeting (DART ) platform enables
the targeting of multiple antigens or cells by using a single
molecule with an antibody-like structure. The Company has created
over 100 DART molecules which have been configured for the
potential treatment of cancer, autoimmune disorders and infectious
disease. These DART molecules can be tailored for either short or
prolonged pharmacokinetics and have demonstrated good stability and
attractive manufacturability. The Company has advanced its first
DART molecule, MGD006, into clinical development and expects to
advance its second DART molecule, MGD007, into clinical development
in the second half of 2014.
About MacroGenics, Inc.
MacroGenics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company
focused on discovering and developing innovative monoclonal
antibody-based therapeutics for the treatment of cancer and
autoimmune diseases. The Company generates its pipeline of product
candidates from its proprietary suite of next-generation antibody
technology platforms, which are designed to improve upon the
performance of monoclonal antibodies and antibody-derived
molecules. The combination of MacroGenics' technology platforms and
antibody engineering expertise has allowed the Company to generate
promising product candidates and enter into several strategic
collaborations with global pharmaceutical and biotechnology
companies. Additional information about MacroGenics can be
found on its corporate website at www.MacroGenics.com.
MacroGenics and DART are registered trademarks of MacroGenics,
MacroGenics' Cautionary Note on Forward-Looking
Any statements in this press release about future expectations,
plans and prospects for MacroGenics, including statements about the
company's strategy, future operations, clinical development of the
company's therapeutic candidates, milestone or opt-in payments from
the company's collaborators, the company's anticipated milestones
and future expectations and plans and prospects for the company and
other statements containing the words "anticipate," "believe,"
"estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "plan," "predict,"
"project," "target," "potential," "will," "would," "could,"
"should," "continue," and similar expressions, constitute
forward-looking statements within the meaning of The Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results may differ
materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements
as a result of various important factors, including: the
uncertainties inherent in the initiation and enrollment of future
clinical trials, expectations of expanding ongoing clinical trials,
availability and timing of data from ongoing clinical trials,
expectations for regulatory approvals, other matters that could
affect the availability or commercial potential of the company's
product candidates and other risk factors described in the
company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission,
including those discussed in the "Risk Factors" section of the
company's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission and any subsequent Quarterly
Reports on Form 10-Q. In addition, the forward-looking
statements included in this press release represent the company's
views as of the date hereof. MacroGenics anticipates that
subsequent events and developments will cause the company's views
to change. However, while the company may elect to update these
forward-looking statements at some point in the future, the company
specifically disclaims any obligation to do so. These