Agenus Milestone Triggers $7.5M Payment

On August 8, 2019 Agenus Inc. (NASDAQ: AGEN), an immuno-oncology (I-O) company with a pipeline of immune checkpoint antibodies, adoptive cell therapies1 and cancer vaccines, reported that the FDA has accepted the company’s IND filing for AGEN2373, a milestone in its partnership with Gilead Sciences, Inc (Press release, Agenus, AUG 8, 2019, View Source [SID1234538381]). This milestone triggers a cash payment of $7.5M. Agenus is eligible to receive additional milestone payments this year and beyond.

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"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.