Peregrine Pharmaceuticals, Inc, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing innovative monoclonal antibodies for the treatment of cancer and viral infections, and Stason Pharmaceuticals, a privately-held US-based pharmaceutical company commercializing products globally since 1994, has signed agreements granting Stason certain exclusive development and commercialization rights to Peregrine's tumour necrosis therapy (TNT) technologies. Peregrine's lead TNT product candidate is Cotara, a novel brain cancer therapy currently in phase-II clinical development. The company's TNT-based immunocytokines technology has also been licensed to Merck KGaA.
"Stason's focus on oncology products for growing Asian markets expands the development of our TNT technologies to reach patients in this region who urgently need new options for the treatment of cancer," commented Steven W King, president and chief executive officer of Peregrine Pharmaceuticals. "As we advance our clinical-stage pipeline of innovative products for oncology and viral infections, we will continue to pursue select partnering opportunities while retaining future potential value for our products in the major pharmaceutical markets."
Under the terms of the agreements, Stason is acquiring from Peregrine exclusive rights to Peregrine's TNT technologies in certain Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) countries. Peregrine has retained exclusive rights to its TNT technologies in the United States, European Union countries, and other select countries internationally. The agreements also include certain non-exclusive licenses for Peregrine's proprietary radiolabeling technologies and its fully-human NHS76 TNT antibody to enable and accelerate Stason's development of TNT products.
Harry Fan, president and CEO of Stason, stated, "This agreement represents a unique opportunity to acquire a novel, cutting-edge pharmaceutical technology package and bring innovative and promising treatments to millions of cancer patients in Asia and the Pacific Rim. We will also continue developing new applications and bioproducts based on TNT technologies to complement Peregrine's activities in the glioblastoma arena and will aggressively pursue new, diverse biotechnology markets. To advance these efforts, a new spin-off biopharmaceutical company headed by Dr. Eugene Mechetner will be formed which will focus on commercializing TNT technologies."
Stason will pursue drug development, clinical trial and commercialization activities in its exclusive APEC territories and both Stason and Peregrine will have the right to initiate new research activities worldwide. Peregrine will receive from Stason upfront fees, annual fees, and milestone payments over the term of the agreements, as well as double-digit royalty payments on net sales. Upon successful commercialization of a product and payment of predetermined royalties to Peregrine within the first seven years of this agreement, Stason will have a right to negotiate with Peregrine further expansion into other countries worldwide. If commercialization is not achieved within the first seven years, Stason will lose exclusivity to its APEC territories.
Peregrine's wholly-owned subsidiary Avid Bioservices will initially manufacture TNT products for Stason's research and development activities. Under the terms of the companies' agreement, Avid will be available to provide fee-based services to Stason for developing new processes and manufacturing products under cGMP conditions for clinical trials.
TNT technologies use monoclonal antibodies to target intracellular tumor antigens in dead or dying (necrotic) tissues.
Peregrine Pharmaceuticals is a biopharmaceutical company with a portfolio of innovative monoclonal antibodies in clinical trials for the treatment of cancer and serious viral infections.
Stason Pharmaceuticals is a privately-held, global pharmaceutical company involved in drug development, manufacturing, importation/exportation, licensing and marketing of both generic and branded products.