Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (REGN) and Amgen (AMGN), in separate partnership deals announced Tuesday, expanded their research programs focused on developing new methods to train the immune system to target and kill cancer. By virtue of the agreement, Amgen will pay $40 million upfront along with $25 million investments. In the ADXS-NEW program, DNA from each patient’s primary tumor and/or metastases as well as normal cells, is sequenced and compared to identify mutations in genes coding for potential neo-antigens in the cancer, the company said.
Advertisement
Jefferies LLC analyst Biren Amin called the Advaxis deal “favorable for a preclinical asset”, estimating that the up-front payment alone will give Advaxis another year worth of cash, tiding the company over through 2018. Advaxis will lead the clinical development of ADXS-NEO through proof-of-concept, retain manufacturing responsibilities, and receive development, regulatory and sales milestone payments of up to $475 million and potential high single digit to mid-double digit royalty payments based on worldwide sales. The company’s year-to-date cash in hand stands at $44.9 million with a $15.6 million operating loss at the end of second quarter (2Q) for fiscal 2016. Amgen and Advaxis have plans to use the scientific information from MINE to specifically identify the neoepitopes using Lm Technology.
The Advaxis Lm Technology utilizes live attenuated Listeria monocytogenes (Lm) bioengineered to produce and deliver tumor antigen/adjuvant fusion proteins within antigen presenting cells with the goal of generating strong, T-cell-mediated immunity.
They will later develop patient specific immunotherapy constructs that feature the neoepitope sequences found in the patient’s tumor cells. These will be used to immunize the patient against neoepitopes that are specific to their cancer.
Advaxis president and CEO, Daniel J. There were questions about a patient death in the early-stage trial of experimental cancer treatment axalimogene filolisbac. Amgen will be fully responsible for funding clinical and commercial activities. Another investigational drug is in phase 1 for the treatment of HER2-positive solid tumors.
Advertisement
Like many other drugmakers, Amgen has been counting on introductions of new medicines, along with cost-cutting, as some of the company’s older biotech drugs face competition from lower-priced treatments.
