ImmunoGen collaborates with Novartis on cancer drugs for $45 million upfront, plus potential $200 million per target; updates financials

US drug developer ImmunoGen (Nasdaq: IMGN) says that it has entered into a collaboration agreement with Novartis (NOVN: VX) to discover and develop targeted anticancer therapeutics using antibodies to several antigen targets to be named by the Swiss pharmaceutical major. The news pushed the US firm’s shares 8.6% higher to $7.71 in morning trading yesterday.

Under this accord, Novartis will pay a $45 million upfront fee to ImmunoGen for exclusive rights to use the company’s Targeted Antibody Payload (TAP) technology with antibodies to the specified number of antigen targets. For each target that results in an anticancer therapeutic, ImmunoGen is entitled to receive milestone payments potentially totaling $200.5 million plus royalties on product sales, if any. The US company is also eligible to receive financial compensation for research and for any manufacturing done on behalf of Novartis. Novartis is responsible for the development, manufacturing, and marketing of any products resulting from this agreement.

“ImmunoGen has a valuable technology, and we’re committed to developing our own pipeline of anticancer therapeutics,” commented Daniel Junius, president and chief executive of ImmunoGen. “Our partnerships provide funding support for our internal product programs and further development of our technology. We plan to continue to establish new collaborations on a selective basis,” he added.