Oct 14 (Reuters) – Vir Biotechnology said on Wednesday it had signed a collaboration agreement worth up to $1.88 billion with Gilead Sciences to discover and develop new cancer treatments for solid tumors.
Shares of Vir rose more than 10% in premarket trading following the announcement.
• Under the agreement, Vir will receive $90 million upfront and be eligible to receive up to $45 million in near-term preclinical milestones and up to $1.74 billion in future development, regulatory and commercial payments, the company said
• It will also be eligible for tiered royalties on net sales ranging from high single digits to low double digits
• The partnership aims to engineer three novel dual-masked T-cell engager candidates to direct the immune system to destroy cancer cells in solid tumors
• Vir will use its PRO-XTEN masking technology and proprietary dAIsY AI platform to design the drug candidates
• The company will be responsible for the early research and design of the experimental drugs, while Gilead will hold the exclusive rights to advance them through clinical testing, manufacturing and commercialization
(Reporting by Kamal Choudhury in Bengaluru; Editing by Shreya Biswas)
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