On April 28, 2014 Agenus reported that the company has entered into a collaboration and license agreement with Merck & Co through a subsidiary, for the discovery and development of therapeutic antibodies to immune checkpoints for the treatment of cancer (Press release Agenus, APR 28, 2014, View Source [SID:1234500473]). Under the terms of the agreement, Agenus will discover and optimize fully human antibodies against two undisclosed Merck checkpoint targets using the 4-Antibody Retrocyte Display platform. Merck will be responsible for clinical development and commercialization of candidates generated under the collaboration.
Under the terms of the agreement, Agenus is eligible to receive approximately $100 million in potential payments associated with the completion of certain clinical, regulatory and commercial milestones for two candidates from Merck. In addition, Agenus is eligible to receive royalty payments on worldwide product sales.