Exelixis, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company,  and Ipsen, a global specialty-driven biotechnological group,  jointly announced an exclusive licensing agreement for the commercialization and further development of cabozantinib, Exelixis’ lead oncology drug.

Under the agreement, Ipsen will have exclusive commercialization rights for current and potential future cabozantinib indications outside of the United States, Canada and Japan. This agreement includes rights to Cometriq, which is currently approved in the European Union (EU) for the treatment of adult patients with progressive, unresectable, locally advanced or metastatic medullary thyroid cancer (MTC). The companies have agreed to collaborate on the development of cabozantinib for current and potential future indications. Exelixis will maintain exclusive commercial rights for cabozantinib in the United States and Canada, and continue its discussions to partner commercial rights in Japan.

Under the agreement, Exelixis will receive a $200 million upfront payment. Exelixis is eligible to receive regulatory milestones, including $60 million upon the approval of cabozantinib in Europe for advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and $50 million upon the filing and approval of cabozantinib in Europe for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), as well as additional regulatory milestones for potential further indications. The agreement also includes up to $545 million of potential commercial milestones and provides for Exelixis to receive tiered royalties up to 26% on Ipsen’s net sales of cabozantinib in its territories.

Marc de Garidel, chairman and chief executive officer of Ipsen said: “The robust results from the METEOR study in advanced renal cell carcinoma demonstrate that cabozantinib has the potential to become a key oncology product in Europe. This transaction will help Ipsen accelerate the growth of the company and strengthen its oncology footprint in Europe. We are excited to bring cabozantinib to patients and clinicians around the world.”

Future commercial indications for cabozantinib could include advanced HCC, the subject of CELESTIAL, an Exelixis-sponsored phase 3 pivotal trial for which top-line results are anticipated in 2017. Additional earlier-stage studies are under way through Exelixis’ collaboration with the National Cancer Institute’s Cancer Therapy Evaluation Program (NCI-CTEP), and its ongoing Investigator-Sponsored Trial (IST) program. Through these two programs, there are more than 45 ongoing or planned studies including trials in advanced RCC, bladder cancer, colorectal cancer, non-small cell lung cancer, and endometrial cancer.

“In Ipsen, Exelixis has an ideal partner to maximize the potential for cabozantinib to have a positive impact on the treatment of cancer on a global basis,” said Michael M. Morrissey, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer of Exelixis. “Ipsen’s established international oncology marketing presence, late-stage clinical development expertise and shared vision with Exelixis for the franchise potential of cabozantinib will accelerate cabozantinib’s commercialization in its territories, while Exelixis remains focused on our launch in the United States. While our immediate priority will be on advanced renal cell carcinoma, Exelixis and Ipsen are committed to exploring and potentially developing cabozantinib in a variety of cancer settings.”

Cabozantinib is a small molecule therapy that inhibits the activity of tyrosine kinases including VEGF receptors, MET, AXL, and RET. Following positive results from the METEOR global phase 3 pivotal trial, the tablet form of cabozantinib is the subject of pending US and EU regulatory applications for use as a treatment for advanced RCC in patients who have received one prior therapy. In the EU, the Marketing Authorization Application (MAA) for cabozantinib in advanced RCC has been accepted and granted accelerated assessment. With this designation, the MAA is eligible for a 150-day review, versus the standard 210 days (excluding clock stops when information is requested by the EMA). Exelixis plans to transfer sponsorship of this MAA to Ipsen. Exelixis also anticipates transitioning the commercialization rights to Cometriq outside the U.S. from Exelixis’ current international partner for COMETRIQ®, Swedish Orphan Biovitrum AB (Sobi), to Ipsen, in accordance with the terms of its agreement with Sobi. In March 2014, the capsule form of cabozantinib was approved by the European Commission under the trade name Cometriq for the treatment of patients with progressive, unresectable, locally advanced or metastatic MTC.

METEOR is a global, randomized open-label trial that compares cabozantinib to everolimus, a standard of care therapy, in 658 patients with advanced RCC whose disease progressed following treatment with a VEGF receptor (VEGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI). The trial’s primary endpoint is progression-free survival (PFS), and secondary endpoints include overall survival (OS) and objective response rate (ORR). Patients were randomized 1:1 to receive 60 mg of cabozantinib or 10 mg of everolimus daily, and were stratified based on number of prior VEGFR TKI therapies and on commonly applied RCC risk criteria. No crossover was allowed.

Cabozantinib is currently marketed in capsule form under the brand name Cometriq in the United States for the treatment of progressive, metastatic MTC, and in the European Union for the treatment of adult patients with progressive, unresectable locally advanced or metastatic MTC. Cometriq is not indicated for patients with RCC. In the METEOR trial, and all other cancer trials currently underway, Exelixis is investigating a tablet formulation of cabozantinib distinct from the Cometriq capsule form. The tablet formulation of cabozantinib is the subject of the NDA and MAA for advanced RCC.

Cabozantinib inhibits the activity of tyrosine kinases including VEGF receptors, MET, AXL and RET. These receptor tyrosine kinases are involved in both normal cellular function and in pathologic processes such as oncogenesis, metastasis, tumor angiogenesis and maintenance of the tumor microenvironment.

The European Commission granted Cometriq conditional approval for the treatment of adult patients with progressive, unresectable locally advanced or metastatic MTC. Similar to another drug approved in this setting, the approved indication states that for patients in whom Rearranged during Transfection (RET) mutation status is not known or is negative, a possible lower benefit should be taken into account before individual treatment decisions.

Exelixis, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company committed to developing small molecule therapies for the treatment of cancer.