Medivation Licenses CureTech's Cancer Drug Pidilizumab - Analyst Blog

Medivation, Inc. (MDVN) exercised its option to gain exclusive worldwide rights to pidilizumab (CT-011) from CureTech, Ltd. under the terms of the license agreement entered into on Oct 23, 2014. Per the agreement terms, Medivation will be responsible for development, regulatory and commercialization activities related to pidilizumab for all indications including oncology.

Pidilizumab is a late-stage immune modulatory anti-programmed death-1 (PD-1) monoclonal antibody, which targets and destroys cancer cells.

With Medivation exercising its option, CureTech will be eligible to receive an upfront payment of $5 million from Medivation and would also be entitled to milestone payments of up to $85 million depending on the achievement of certain development and regulatory milestones. Additionally, CureTech would be eligible to receive up to $245 million on the achievement of sales related milestones and tiered royalties of 5%–11% on annual worldwide net sales.

Moreover, the agreement also includes a guaranty between Medivation and CureTech's largest (53%) shareholder, Clal Biotechnology Industries Ltd., regarding certain obligations of CureTech.

We note that Medivation is focused on developing therapies for oncology indications. Earlier this year, Medivation entered into a research and license agreement with OncoFusion Therapeutics, Inc. pertaining to certain compounds targeting Bromodomain and Extra-Terminal (BET) proteins for potential use in oncology and other disease areas.

Our Take    

We are positive on the company's agreement with CureTech for pidilizumab. However, the highly lucrative immuno-oncology market is targeted by several companies including Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) and Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (BMY) among others.

Medivation currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). A better-ranked stock in the health care sector is Amgen Inc. (AMGN) carrying a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
 
BRISTOL-MYERS (BMY): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
AMGEN INC (AMGN): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
MEDIVATION INC (MDVN): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
MERCK & CO INC (MRK): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
To read this article on Zacks.com click here.
 
Zacks Investment Research