Glenmark Pharmaceutical on Thursday said that its subsidiary Ichnos Sciences has signed a licensing agreement with Astria Therapeutics for its OX40 antagonist monoclonal antibody portfolio.
Under the agreement, Astria Therapeutics has been given global rights to develop and commercialise the OX40 portfolio, consisting of Telazorlimab and its follow-on molecules, for use in inflammatory and immune diseases.
Telazorlimab is an IgG1 monoclonal antibody that aims towards OX40 on T-cells responsible for inflammation and immunity diseases, Glenmark said in a filing to the stock exchanges. Enormous OX40 signaling, expressed on activated T cells, is a feature of various inflammatory diseases, including atopic dermatitis (AD).
Astria is looking to develop an affinity-matured version of Telazorlimab and apply YTE half-life extension technology to create a product that targets the need for a safe, effective, and infrequently administered AD treatment.
According to the pact, Astria Therapeutics will bear full cost for the global development and commercialisation of the licensed therapeutic program for all indications.
In exchange, Ichnos will get up to $320 million in upfront, besides, development, regulatory, and sales milestone payments along with up to low double-digit royalties, the company stated.
Further, Ichnos Sciences would allow Astria Therapeutics to draw down on its existing investigational drug substance as well as drug product stocks at normalized costs to promote development.
With this pact, Ichnos has licenced its two assets for inflammatory and immunological diseases, a step towards prioritisation of its pipeline of oncology drug candidates.
At 9.33 AM, shares of Glenmark Pharma were trading 0.57 percent higher at Rs 785 apiece on BSE.
(Edited by : Asmita Pant)
First Published: Oct 12, 2023 11:58 AM IST
