Endocyte, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company developing targeted therapeutics for personalized cancer treatment, acquired the exclusive worldwide rights to develop and commercialize a promising new drug for the treatment of a lethal form of prostate cancer that is resistant to current therapies and kills more than 300,000 patients each year. Endocyte acquired the rights under a license from German chemicals company ABX GmbH, with our firm advising Endocyte on the agreement.
The new drug, which delivers a radioactive isotope selectively to tumor cells while bypassing healthy cells, has produced encouraging efficacy and safety results in compassionate use studies on hundreds of patients. Endocyte will quickly move the drug into a Phase 3 clinical study that could be completed as early as 2020, thereby allowing for potential approval shortly thereafter.
In exchange for the rights, Endocyte made an upfront payment to ABX of $12 million and issued to ABX 2 million shares of Endocyte common stock plus a warrant to purchase an additional 4 million shares of Endocyte common stock. ABX also is eligible for regulatory and commercial milestone payments of up to $160 million and tiered royalties beginning in the mid-teens.
