Ipsen and Marengo ink up to $1.6 billion partnership

French drugmaker Ipsen (Euronext: IPN) and USA-based immuno-oncology start-up Marengo Therapeutics today announced a strategic partnership to advance two of Marengo’s pre-clinical STAR platform-generated candidates into the clinic.

The collaboration will leverage Marengo’s proprietary R&D expertise of a novel mechanism of T-cell activation with Ipsen’s global oncology footprint for clinical development and commercialization. Ipsen’s shares dipped 1.7% to 97.15 euros following the announcement

Under the terms of the agreement, Ipsen will make an upfront payment of $45 million, together with potential payments up to a total of $1.592 billion if all milestones are met in addition to tiered sales royalty payments. Marengo will lead the pre-clinical development efforts and will expense related costs until the submission of an Investigational New Drug (IND) application to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Ipsen will assume responsibilities for clinical development and commercialization.