Gilead Sciences and Xilio Therapeutics have entered into an exclusive licence agreement worth up to $647.5m to advance Xilio’s tumour-activated IL-12 programme.
Gilead will be granted an exclusive global licence to develop and commercialise XTX301, which is currently being evaluated in a phase 1 trial in patients with advanced solid tumours.
The candidate is designed to stimulate anti-tumour immunity and reprogramme the microenvironment of poorly immunogenic ‘cold’ tumours towards an inflamed or ‘hot’ state, the companies explained.
Under the terms of the agreement, Xilio will receive $43.5m in upfront payments and will be eligible to receive up to $604m in additional contingent payments, as well as tiered royalties.
Xilio will be responsible for conducting clinical development of XTX301 in the ongoing phase 1 clinical trial to dose expansion and, following the delivery of a specified clinical data package, Gilead can choose to pay $75m to take responsibility for the development and commercialisation of the asset.
Bill Grossman, senior vice president, oncology clinical development at Gilead, said: “Xilio’s novel tumour-activation platform naturally complements Gilead’s clinical development programme in difficult-to-treat cancers and expands our focus in immuno-oncology.
“We believe IL-12 has the potential to treat a broad range of tumour types and are excited to partner with Xilio to advance XTX301, a tumour-activated IL-12, as a monotherapy and a combination therapy across a variety of solid tumours.”
Also commenting on the deal, René Russo, Xilio’s president and chief executive officer, said: “Gilead’s confidence in our tumour-activated technology, combined with [its] deep expertise in developing and commercialising novel immuno-oncology products, will enable us to accelerate and expand the development of XTX301, our tumour-activated IL-12.”
“We look forward to collaborating with Gilead as we seek to deliver on the potential for XTX301 to provide a meaningful benefit for a range of tumour types… while overcoming the severe toxicities historically associated with IL-12.”
The agreement comes just weeks after Gilead and Merus announced a new oncology partnership worth over $1.5bn to discover dual tumour-associated antigens targeting tri-specific antibodies.
The company also recently said it would be acquiring CymaBay Therapeutics for $4.3bn, marking a significant boost to its liver disease pipeline.