Exelixis expands its biotherapeutics portfolio

US genomics-based drug discovery company Exelixis (Nasdaq: EXEL) and French immuno-oncology biotech GamaMabs Pharma have entered into an agreement under which Exelixis will acquire all rights, title and interest in GamaMabs’ AMHR2 antibody technology.

Exelixis will pay GamaMabs $5 million upon signing of the agreement, make additional payments on completion of closing conditions, and make additional milestone payments after closing, contingent upon various events. Once the transfer is completed, Exelixis will control 100% of GamaMabs’ AMHR2 franchise technology including all assets pertaining to GamaMabs’ monoclonal antibody drug product murlentamab (GM-102).

“GamaMabs has generated a compelling body of pre-clinical data supporting the potential of AMHR2 as a target for novel oncology therapies and demonstrated the safety of an anti-AMHR2 monoclonal antibody in human clinical trials,” said Peter Lamb, executive vice president, scientific strategy and chief scientific officer of Exelixis.

He continud: “Based on these data, we believe that applying our ADC capabilities to GamaMabs’ panel of antibodies against AMHR2 could yield a promising new addition to our biotherapeutics portfolio. Acquiring GamaMabs’ extensive know-how related to this target, as well as existing drug product and related manufacturing cell lines, will allow us to reduce significantly the development timeline compared with starting an AMHR2 program de novo. This is consistent with our strategy of advancing novel cancer therapies as rapidly as possible in order to enable new treatment options that may provide improved patient benefit.”