Lycera gives Celgene rights to its cancer drug compounds for upfront $17.5 million cash

Privately-held drug developer Lycera said it has signed an exclusive license agreement with US biotech firm Celgene Corp (Nasdaq: CELG) granting the latter rights to its portfolio of ex vivo RORgamma agonist compounds to treat cancer.

Under the terms of the license agreement, Lycera received a $17.5 million upfront cash payment and has the potential to receive an additional near-term milestone payment of $5 million.

Paul Sekhri, chief executive of Lycera, said: "The execution of the license is another important step in our strategic collaboration with Celgene to advance novel medicines to meet patient needs in cancer and autoimmune diseases. We are encouraged by the data we have generated to support both in vivo and ex vivo applications of our RORgamma agonists, and we plan to commence Phase I studies of an oral, selective RORgamma agonist later this year. We also look forward to the progress of our lead clinical program for our product candidate LYC-30937 EC, a novel oral, gut-directed ATPase modulator, which has recently completed Phase I clinical studies and is anticipated to move into Phase II in patients with inflammatory bowel disease this year."