Gilead and biotech firm Tubulis announced that they have forged an exclusive option and license agreement to discover and develop an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) against an undisclosed solid tumor target.
Under the terms of the agreement, Tubulis will receive an upfront payment of $20 million and, if Gilead exercises its option, a separate option exercise fee of $30 million. In addition, Tubulis will be eligible for development and commercialization milestone payments totaling up to $415 million, plus mid-single to low double-digit tiered royalties on the sales of marketed products resulting from the collaboration.
Under the agreement, Munich-based Tubulis will lead early-stage research and development for the ADC program, which is aimed at developing a topoisomerase I inhibitor-based ADC candidate designed to address current therapeutic challenges such as durability and off-target toxicity, the companies said in a statement. In turn, Gilead will further develop and commercialize any candidates that emerge from the collaboration, should the firm choose to exercise the option.
The companies will use either Tubulis' proprietary Tubutecan or Alco5 platforms for the ADC program. At present, Tubulis is advancing two ADC candidates in its pipeline, TUB-040, which is being evaluated in the clinic in ovarian and non-small cell lung cancers, and TUB-030, targeting 5T4, which is set to follow.
