- $15 Million milestone triggered by initiation of Phase 3 clinical trial in NSCLC by Incyte
ROCKVILLE, MD, Sept. 21, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- MacroGenics, Inc. (Nasdaq: MGNX), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing innovative monoclonal antibody-based therapeutics for the treatment of cancer, today announced that a $15 million milestone payment has been triggered under its exclusive global collaboration and license agreement with Incyte for retifanlimab (MGA012), an investigational anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibody designed by MacroGenics and licensed to Incyte (as INCMGA00012). The milestone was triggered by the initiation of the Phase 3 POD1UM-304 clinical trial, evaluating the efficacy and safety of retifanlimab with platinum-based chemotherapy in patients with metastatic squamous and non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
MacroGenics and Incyte have each established multiple development programs for retifanlimab, evaluating the anti-PD-1 molecule either as monotherapy or in combination with other agents. Incyte is conducting clinical trials that are potentially registration-enabling for patients with metastatic NSCLC, squamous carcinoma of the anal canal (SCAC), MSI-high endometrial cancer, Merkel cell carcinoma, and MacroGenics is conducting a potentially registration-enabling study in HER2-positive gastric cancer.
“Anti-PD-1 therapy has become a mainstay in cancer treatment across multiple tumor types, and we are excited to see our Incyte partnership continue to advance the development of retifanlimab across a broad set of monotherapy and combination regimens,” said Scott Koenig, M.D., Ph.D., President and CEO of MacroGenics. “We look forward to continued progress on this program over the coming months.”
Under the collaboration agreement with Incyte, MacroGenics is eligible to receive up to a total of $390 million in potential remaining development and regulatory milestones and up to $330 million in potential commercial milestones. If retifanlimab is approved and commercialized, MacroGenics would be eligible to receive royalties, tiered from 15 to 24 percent, on future worldwide net sales of the molecule.
About MacroGenics, Inc.
MacroGenics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing innovative monoclonal antibody-based therapeutics for the treatment of cancer. The Company generates its pipeline of product candidates primarily from its proprietary suite of next-generation antibody-based technology platforms, which have applicability across broad therapeutic domains. For more information, please see the Company's website at www.macrogenics.com. MacroGenics and the MacroGenics logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of MacroGenics, Inc.
Cautionary Note on Forward-Looking Statements
Any statements in this press release about future expectations, plans and prospects for the Company, including statements about the Company's strategy, future operations, clinical development of the Company's therapeutic candidates, milestone or opt-in payments from the Company's collaborators, the Company's anticipated milestones and future expectations and plans and prospects for the Company and other statements containing the words "subject to", "believe", "anticipate", "plan", "expect", "intend", "estimate", "project", "may", "will", "should", "would", "could", "can", the negatives thereof, variations thereon and similar expressions, or by discussions of strategy constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors, including: the uncertainties inherent in the initiation and enrollment of future clinical trials, expectations of expanding ongoing clinical trials, availability and timing of data from ongoing clinical trials, expectations for the timing and steps required in the regulatory review process, expectations for regulatory approvals, the impact of competitive products, our ability to enter into agreements with strategic partners and other matters that could affect the availability or commercial potential of the Company's product candidates, business or economic disruptions due to catastrophes or other events, including natural disasters or public health crises such as the novel coronavirus (referred to as COVID-19), and other risks described in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In addition, the forward-looking statements included in this press release represent the Company's views only as of the date hereof. The Company anticipates that subsequent events and developments will cause the Company's views to change. However, while the Company may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, the Company specifically disclaims any obligation to do so, except as may be required by law. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing the Company's views as of any date subsequent to the date hereof.