Arrowhead Subsidiary Calando Pharmaceuticals Enters into License Agreement with Cerulean Pharma Inc.
- Calando To License Cyclosert™ Platform and Associated IT-101 Drug Candidate for Upfront Payment of $2.4 Million, Milestone Payments and Royalties from Product Sales; Agreement Creates Substantial Potential Revenue Stream -
Press Release
Source: Arrowhead Research Corporation
On Tuesday June 23, 2009, 4:01 pm EDT
PASADENA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Arrowhead Research Corporation (NASDAQ:ARWR - News) today announced that its Calando Pharmaceuticals, Inc. subsidiary has entered into a worldwide license agreement with Cerulean Pharma Inc. for Calando’s drug delivery platform, Cyclosert™, and associated clinical stage anti-cancer drug, IT-101. The agreement is part of Calando’s strategy to minimize its burn rate while retaining upside exposure via partnerships with high quality companies that will continue the development of Calando’s platforms and drug candidates. Importantly, this agreement does not include rights to develop and commercialize RNAi products or the clinical-stage RNAi candidate, CALAA-01, both of which Calando intends to partner separately.
Under the terms of the agreement, Cerulean made an upfront payment of $2.4 million to Calando and will make development milestone payments of up to $2.75 million if IT-101 progresses through clinical trials and receives marketing approval. If approved, Calando is also entitled to receive up to an additional $30 million in sales milestone payments, plus royalties on net sales.
As a platform delivery system, Cyclosert™ may be utilized to generate a very large number of new drugs in addition to IT-101, and under the agreement with Cerulean, Calando will participate in any potential upside related to the development of other drugs using the delivery platform. For each new drug candidate that Cerulean is able to bring to market utilizing the Cyclosert™ system, Calando will be entitled to $3 million in development milestone payments. Once these products reach the market, Calando could potentially receive an additional $15 million in sales milestone payments, plus royalties on net sales.
Commenting on the partnership, Dr. Christopher Anzalone, Arrowhead's President and Chief Executive Officer, stated, “We strongly believe in IT-101 and the Cyclosert™ platform, and this transaction goes a long way toward achieving our dual strategy of decreasing costs while working to monetize these potentially powerful assets. We believe that Cerulean will be a terrific partner given its focus on nanoparticle-based drugs, strong financial position, and high quality management team. We look forward to our mutual future success.”
“Calando’s cyclodextrin co-polymer based technology is founded on elegant chemistry, and the integration of this platform into our program fully leverages the expertise and capabilities that we have built,” said Dr. Oliver Fetzer, President and Chief Executive Officer of Cerulean. “We look forward to applying the technology against a range of product opportunities, as well as further advancing IT-101 in the clinic.” |
