Astellas empowers newly energized CytomX with $80M upfront to get preclinical bispecific work going
In the latest upswing on the CytomX roller coaster ride, Astellas is stoking the waning flames of its platform tech with $80 million upfront and a new partnership.
Specifically, the Japanese pharma is interested in applying the Probody tech on T cell engaging bispecific cancer therapies — a path that Amgen has also traveled down. Astellas is funding research and discovery up to clinical candidate selection, at which point it will take over. With $1.6 billion in milestones on the table for a number of unnamed targets, CytomX has the option to co-fund part of the clinical development for several programs in exchange for profit-share or co-commercialization.
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