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F-star expedites its transition to a wholly-owned portfolio strategy
• | | Reconfigured collaboration represents major advancement in F-star’s pivot to a wholly-owned portfolio strategy |
• | | F-star retains lead clinical asset, first-in-class bispecific antibody, FS118 |
• | | FS118 Phase 1 trial study continues according to F-star protocol |
• | | Merck exercises option for one discovery stage programme and retains option for second discovery programme from original collaboration |
Cambridge, UK, 14 May 2019 – F-star, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company delivering tetravalent bispecific antibodies for a paradigm-shift in cancer therapy, today announced the reconfiguration of its immuno-oncology collaboration, established in 2017, with Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany as it executes on its transition to a wholly-owned portfolio and builds scale and value as a world-class biopharmaceutical company.
Under the terms of the new agreement, F-star retains exclusive rights to develop and commercialise FS118, a clinical-stage tetravalent bispecific antibody. At the same time, Merck has exercised its option for one discovery stage programme and retains the right to option a second discovery programme from the 2017 original agreement. No financial terms of the agreement are being disclosed.
Eliot Forster, CEO of F-star, said: “This new agreement reflects our pivot to building a wholly-owned pipeline, that allows for rapid progress into the clinic and secures greater long-term value from our products. With full rights to FS118, we have an opportunity to accelerate the development of this first- in-class medicine for a group of targeted cancer patients. We are also pleased to continue our long- term collaboration with Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany by advancing assets from F-star’s Modular Antibody TechnologyTM into their pipeline.”
FS118 is a potential first-in-class tetravalent bispecific antibody for the treatment of cancer, developed to overcome tumour evasion mechanisms promoted by two molecules (LAG-3: Lymphocyte-Activation Gene 3 and PD-L1: Programmed Death-Ligand 1) with the potential to restore the natural ability of the immune system to fight cancer(1). Initiated in April 2018 under F-star’s sponsorship, the Phase I trial (NCT03440437) continues as originally planned and is expected to read out during 2020.
(1) | LAG-3/PD-L1 mAb² can overcome PD-L1-mediated compensatory upregulation of LAG-3 induced by single-agent checkpoint blockade. Faroudi et al. (March 2019) - Poster at the annual AACR meeting |
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CONFIDENTIAL
*** Certain information in this agreement has been omitted and filed separately with the Securities and Exchange Commission. [***] indicates that text has been omitted and is the subject of a confidential treatment request.