ICOS Corporation, a biotechnology company headquartered in Bothell, Washington, and privately held Caprion Pharmaceuticals Inc. announced that they have entered into an agreement for the joint development of therapeutic antibodies for the treatment of cancer. The collaboration seeks to accelerate the development of new therapeutic antibodies, providing both parties with promising candidates for independent and joint development, an ICOS release said.

Caprion will contribute a selection of proprietary antibody targets and perform certain target characterization activities for the collaboration. ICOS will be responsible for target validation and preclinical development of therapeutic antibodies. Each company will select a predetermined number of promising antibody candidates for independent development.

The terms of the agreement include an up-front payment and license fees to Caprion, as well as reciprocal milestone payments that are contingent upon the successful completion of milestones by each company, and reciprocal royalty payments. Additionally, the agreement allows for Caprion and ICOS to co-develop and co-promote certain products developed under the collaboration in the event that ICOS exercises an opt-in provision.

"We are excited about expanding our cancer therapies discovery efforts using the cell-surface targets that Caprion's leading proteomics technology has identified," said W. Michael Gallatin, Ph.D., ICOS vice president and scientific director. "Combined with ICOS' depth in drug development, we believe that this collaboration has the potential to broaden our efforts to deliver new therapies to the patients who need them."

Martin LeBlanc, Caprion's EVP and chief operating officer stated, "This collaboration accelerates our transition into a fully-integrated drug discovery company and leverages the targets our proteomics platform has generated into development programs that may rapidly reach the clinic."