USA – Moderna Inc. has entered into a strategic collaboration and licensing pact worth up to US$35 million with CytomX Therapeutics Inc., a leader in the field of conditionally activated oncology therapeutics.
The biotechnology company outlined that CytomX is set to receive a US$35 million upfront payment with the potential for additional research, milestone, and royalty payments.
In a press release, Moderna said: “The collaboration will combine Moderna’s mRNA technology with CytomX’s Probody® Platform to generate and develop therapeutics for oncology and non-oncology conditions.”
The two parties will leverage core scientific advances to create investigational mRNA-based conditionally activated therapies utilizing Moderna’s mRNA technologies and CytomX’s Probody® therapeutic platform.
“Moderna’s mRNA platform builds on continuous advances in basic and applied mRNA science, delivery technology, and manufacturing,” the pharma giant highlighted.
The company further said that its platform has allowed the development of therapeutics and vaccines for infectious diseases, immuno-oncology, rare diseases, cardiovascular diseases, and autoimmune diseases.
“CytomX’s Probody technology enables proteins to be activated locally in diseased tissue while remaining masked in the systemic circulation,” Moderna said.
The pharmaceutical giant underscored that scientific advances at CytomX open up the strategy of encoding potent, masked biologics with mRNA, potentially treating a wide range of diseases.
Commenting on the new deal, Dr. Rose Loughlin, Moderna’s Senior Vice President for Research and Early Development said: “We are excited to enter this collaboration with CytomX to combine our technologies and to bring mRNA-based conditionally activated therapies to patients potentially.”
She observed that Moderna and CytomX have a shared vision of investing at the intersection of biology and technology to transform the lives of patients, adding that the collaboration will expand the applications of their growing therapeutics pipeline.
Chief Executive Officer at CytomX Therapeutics Dr. Sean McCarthy, welcomed the deal, stating: “At CytomX, we have always embraced bold science in building the potential of Probody therapeutics.”
He expressed his readiness to team up with Moderna in oncology as well as expand the Company’s technology to areas outside oncology where he believes there is great potential.
“Moderna’s global impact has shown the enormous power of mRNA and we look forward to working closely with our newest collaborator to bring novel, mRNA-based conditionally activated therapeutics to patients with unmet medical needs.” Dr. McCarthy added.
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