LEXINGTON, Mass., Nov. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Agenus Inc.
(NASDAQ: AGEN), an immuno-oncology (I-O) company with a pipeline of
immune checkpoint antibodies and cancer vaccines, today announced
the receipt of a $4 million payment
for the advancement of an undisclosed antibody under the license
and research collaboration agreement with Merck, known as MSD
outside the United States and
Canada.
As previously announced, Merck is responsible for all future
product development expenses for the selected antibody and Agenus
is eligible to receive up to an additional $99 million in milestone payments, as well as
royalties on worldwide product sales.
"We are very pleased with the progress of our collaboration with
Merck and the advancement of this antibody towards the clinic,"
said Garo Armen, Ph.D. Chairman and
CEO of Agenus. "Our integrated antibody discovery platforms and
expertise culminates in discovering antibodies for a broad range of
targets, including challenging ones, as was the case with this
particular candidate."
About Agenus
Agenus is a clinical-stage immuno-oncology company focused on
the discovery and development of therapies that engage the body's
immune system to fight cancer. The Company's vision is to expand
the patient populations benefiting from cancer immunotherapy by
pursuing a number of combination approaches that leverage a broad
repertoire of antibody therapeutics and proprietary cancer vaccine
platforms. The Company is equipped with a suite of antibody
discovery platforms and a state-of-the-art GMP manufacturing
facility with the capacity to support early phase clinical
programs. Agenus is headquartered in Lexington, MA. For
more information, please visit www.agenusbio.com; information that
may be important to investors will be routinely posted on our
website.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements that are
made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the federal
securities laws, including statements regarding future potential
payments from Merck. These forward-looking statements are
subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results
to differ materially. These risks and uncertainties include, among
others, the factors described under the Risk Factors section of our
most recent Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q or Annual Report on Form
10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Agenus
cautions investors not to place considerable reliance on the
forward-looking statements contained in this release. These
statements speak only as of the date of this press release, and
Agenus undertakes no obligation to update or revise the statements,
other than to the extent required by law. All forward-looking
statements are expressly qualified in their entirety by this
cautionary statement.
Contact:
Agenus Inc.
Jennifer Buell, PhD
781-674-4420
Jennifer.Buell@agenusbio.com
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SOURCE Agenus