-- Partners to Generate Novel Bispecific Antibodies Directed Toward
an Anti-tumor Target Identified by Astellas --
-- Astellas to Receive Exclusive Worldwide License to Potential Drug
Candidates --
MONROVIA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Apr. 2, 2019--
Xencor, Inc. (NASDAQ:XNCR), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company
developing engineered monoclonal antibodies for the treatment of cancer,
autoimmune disease, asthma and allergic diseases, today announced it has
entered into a research and license agreement in which Astellas Pharma
Inc. will access Xencor’s bispecific technology to advance a novel
bispecific antibody program in oncology. Xencor and Astellas will
collaborate to generate bispecific antibodies directed toward a selected
anti-tumor target for the potential treatment of patients with cancer,
and Astellas will have an exclusive worldwide license to develop and
commercialize novel drug candidates.
“Xencor’s modular antibody engineering platform enables the rapid
generation of proprietary programs for our broad pipeline of drug
candidates and for our partners, as well. Our XmAb®
bispecific Fc domains enable antibodies and other protein structures
that bind two or more different targets simultaneously, which inherently
provides a wide range of potential drug candidates,” said Bassil
Dahiyat, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer at Xencor. “Our
partnership with Astellas further expands the potential of XmAb
bispecifics to create new therapies for patients with cancer.”
Under the terms of the agreement, Xencor will apply its bispecific
technology to create multiple bispecific antibody candidates against the
target specified by Astellas and will perform initial characterization
of the molecules. Astellas will conduct all preclinical and clinical
development and regulatory and commercial activities. Xencor will
receive an upfront payment and will be eligible to receive development,
regulatory and sales milestone payments and high-single digit to
low-double digit percentage royalties on net sales.
About Xencor, Inc.
Xencor is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing
engineered monoclonal antibodies for the treatment of cancer, autoimmune
diseases, asthma and allergic diseases. Currently, 12 candidates
engineered with Xencor's XmAb® technology are in clinical
development internally and with partners. Xencor's XmAb antibody
engineering technology enables small changes to the structure of
monoclonal antibodies resulting in new mechanisms of therapeutic action.
For more information, please visit www.xencor.com.
Forward Looking Statements
Statements contained in this press release regarding matters that are
not historical facts are forward-looking statements within the meaning
of applicable securities laws, including, but not limited to, the
quotations from Xencor's president and chief executive officer and any
expectations relating to Xencor's financial expectations and business,
the timing and success of clinical trials, future product candidates,
Xencor's research and development programs, partnering efforts and
capital requirements. Such statements involve known and unknown risks,
uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results,
performance or achievements and the timing of events to be materially
different from those implied by such statements, and therefore these
statements should not be read as guarantees of future performance or
results. Such risks include, without limitation, the risks associated
with the process of discovering, developing, manufacturing and
commercializing drugs that are safe and effective for use as human
therapeutics and other risks described in Xencor's public securities
filings. For a discussion of these and other factors, please refer to
Xencor's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018
as well as Xencor's subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission. All forward-looking statements are based on Xencor's current
information and belief as well as assumptions made by Xencor. You are
cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking
statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. This caution is made
under the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995. All forward-looking statements are qualified in
their entirety by this cautionary statement and Xencor undertakes no
obligation to revise or update this press release to reflect events or
circumstances after the date hereof, except as required by law.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190402005363/en/
Source: Xencor, Inc.
Charles Liles
626-737-8118
cliles@xencor.com
Media Contact
Jason I. Spark
Canale Communications
619-849-6005
jason@canalecomm.com
