TG Therapeutics, Inc.
TGTX, announced today an agreement with Checkpoint Therapeutics,
Inc., a newly formed subsidiary of Coronado Biosciences, Inc. CNDO to
develop and commercialize Checkpoint's fully human anti-PD-L1 and anti-GITR
antibody research programs in the field of hematological malignancies.
Checkpoint will develop and commercialize these antibodies in solid
tumors. The antibodies were generated in the laboratory of Dr. Wayne Marasco,
MD, PhD, a Professor in the Department of Cancer Immunology and AIDs at
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (Dana-Farber). Both programs are currently in
pre-clinical development and are anticipated to enter the clinic in 2016.
Under the terms of the agreement, TG Therapeutics will make an up-front
payment as well as make development and sales-based milestone payments and
will pay a tiered single digit royalty on net sales.
Mr. Michael S. Weiss, Executive Chairman, Interim CEO and President stated,
"We are very excited to add Dr. Marasco's anti-PD-L1 and anti-GITR programs to
our growing portfolio of agents targeting hematological malignancies. Dr.
Marasco is a recognized world expert in human antibody engineering and one of
the pioneers of immunotherapy and we look forward to his continued involvement
and guidance as Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board of our new partner,
Checkpoint Therapeutics, Inc." Mr. Weiss continued, "Checkpoint inhibitors and
other immuno-oncology targeted agents have already demonstrated the ability to
transform the way we treat cancer by unlocking the immune system, offering the
promise of deep and durable remissions. While the recent introduction of novel
targeted agents has already revolutionized the way we treat hematological
malignancies, we at TG believe that incorporation of immuno-therapy will prove
to be a second paradigm-shift in the treatment of these diseases, and it is
our goal to be at the forefront leading this charge. As we've said previously,
we will continue to build our portfolio to optimize our combination approach
to provide the best possible outcomes to patients with B-cell malignancies
without the need to use harsh chemotherapy, ideally pushing toward a cure. It
is believed that these two antibodies can work synergistically together and we
believe that adding them to the already marked activity we are seeing with our
proprietary combination of TG-1101 and TGR-1202 across CLL and NHL could
greatly enhance the therapeutic benefit to patients with hematological
malignancies. Our goal is to advance both of these antibodies into the clinic
in the second half of next year."
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