AstraZeneca extends collaboration deal with Innate Pharma

AstraZeneca, along with its global biologics research and development arm MedImmune, announced a new multi-term agreement with Innate Pharma on Tuesday, building on an existing collaboration.

The FTSE 100 pharmaceuticals giant said the deal was aimed at accelerating each company's oncology portfolio, and bringing new medicines to patients more quickly.

It said the extended collaboration would “enrich” AstraZeneca's immuno-oncology portfolio with pre-clinical and clinical potential new medicines.

AstraZeneca would obtain full oncology rights to the “first-in-class” humanised anti-NKG2A antibody, ‘monalizumab’, expanding its partnership with Innate from the initial collaboration announced in 2015.

The firm was also gaining option rights to IPH5201 - an antibody targeting CD39 - as well as four preclinical molecules from Innate's pipeline.

Innate was licensing the US and EU commercial rights to the recently FDA-approved ‘Lumoxiti’ (moxetumomab pasudotox) for hairy cell leukaemia.

“Our expanded collaboration with Innate Pharma enables us to further strengthen our leadership in immuno-oncology, and to explore the potential of next-generation immuno-oncology pathways, together with the world-class scientific team of Innate,” said AstraZeneca chief executive officer Pascal Soriot.

“Today's agreement also secures the long-term commercialisation of the recently FDA approved rare disease medicine, Lumoxiti, through dedicated focus and investment by Innate Pharma.”

Mondher Mahjoubi, chief executive officer of Innate Pharma, described it as a “defining moment” for Innate Pharma as it transitioned to become a fully-integrated oncology-focused biotechnology company.

“Lumoxiti is a major therapeutic innovation for patients who suffer from relapsed/refractory hairy cell leukaemia, and we are proud to be in a position to address a significant unmet medical need,” Mahjoubi said.

“Our commercial team will be focused on rare cancers and generate more value as our own haemato-oncology proprietary pipeline develops.”