Pfizer returns worldwide rights to Celldex Thera's rindopepimut brain tumor vaccine candidate

6 September 2010

Massachusetts, USA-based Celldex Therapeutics (Nasdaq: CLDX) saw its stock plummet 36% to $3.05 in pre-market trading on Friday, as it revealed that global drugs behemoth Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) had returned worldwide development and commercialization rights to the cancer vaccine rindopepimut (CDX-110), effective November 1, 2010.

Celldex and Pfizer Vaccines entered into a global development and commercialization agreement in April 2008 for rindopepimut, an experimental therapeutic cancer vaccine that targets the tumor-specific molecule epidermal growth factor receptor variant III (EGFRvIII) in patients with glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), which could have earned the former as much as $440 million in upfront and milestone payments, including a $10 million equity stake in the firm.

Pfizer has informed Celldex that the rindopepimut program is no longer a strategic priority of the pharma giant and has terminated the agreement. As previously disclosed, across three clinical studies, rindopepimut has met or exceeded all pre-determined safety and efficacy objectives, said Celldex.

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