Briatain’s GlaxoSmithKline Plc has agreed to pay $2 billion to iTeos Therapeutics Inc to develop and sell a potential cancer treatment together, the companies said on Monday.
Boston-based iTeos, whose shares jumped 52% in premarket trading, will get a $625 million upfront payment and is qualified to get up to $1.45 billion more if the program meets certain developments and business achievements.
GlaxoSmithKline is feeling the squeeze to support its medication pipeline after a report that U.S. activist investor Elliott acquired a critical stake in the company. The British drug maker is additionally planning to outline plans to split its consumer products business from its drug operations
The iTeos bargain is to foster EOS-448, a monoclonal antibody that acts as an anti TIGIT agent, which showed promise in early examinations.
Anti TIGIT therapies are new experimental immunotherapies against certain cancer types. These medicines, including Roche’s tiragolumab and Merck and Co vibostolimab, are intended to deactivate a tumor’s capacity to evade the immune system.
GSK’s chief scientific officer Hal Barron, said immuno-oncology had “changed malignant growth care” yet that under 30% of patients react to treatment with the current driving invulnerable designated spot inhibitors.
The arrangement with iTeos will make GSK the only company with antibodies focusing on the three known designated spots, which in some cases stop the immune system from battling cancer cells, GSK said.
EOS-448 is presently being tried in early stage studies in patients with advanced tumors. GSK and iTeos plan to begin combined studies of EOS-448 with GSK’s recently approved cancer drug dostarlimab in 2022.
ITeos is qualified to get milestones and royalty payments on deals outside the US, and the two companies will share the both costs of development and profits in the US.
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