(Alliance News) - Arix Bioscience PLC said Thursday its portfolio company Harpoon Therapeutics Inc has signed a deal with AbbVie Inc to license worldwide rights of its HPN217 drug for the treatment of multiple myeloma.
HPN217 is Harpoon's Tri-Specific T Cell-Activating Construct TriTAC, which produces novel T cell engagers which targets both solid tumours and hematologic malignancies.
Two agreements provide for a total of USD50 million in upfront and up to USD50 million in a contingent milestone payment for the first patient treated with HPN217 in a clinical trial, Arix said.
These agreements build upon the discovery collaboration established by the two companies in October 2017 and are expected to advance and broaden the use of TriTAC, the company said.
Under the terms of expanded discovery collaboration agreement, AbbVie will receive worldwide exclusive rights to develop and commercialize two new TriTAc molecules engineered for two selected targets.
AbbVie also has the option to select up to four additional targets for a total of up to six new targets, the company said.
For each selected target, Harpoon is eligible to receive up to USD310 million in upfront and potential development, regulatory and commercial milestone payments, also royalties on global commercial sales.
Arix Bioscience shares were down 1.3% in London at 112.00 pence each on Friday afternoon. Abbvie shares in New York closed flat at USD86.52 on Thursday, but was up 0.4% in pre-market trade.
By Loreta Juodagalvyte; loretajuodagalvyte@alliancenews.com
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