Bellicum Pharma, Astellas Ink Global License Agreement For Cancer Target PSCA

(RTTNews) - Bellicum Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (BLCM) and Astellas Pharma Inc. (ALPMY, ALPMY) Friday said that Agensys, Inc., an affiliate of Astellas, and Bellicum have entered into a global license agreement.

The agreement grants Bellicum rights to develop and commercialize adoptive cell therapies, including CAR-T cells, for tumors expressing Prostate Stem Cell Antigen or PSCA using PSCA technology, both in-licensed and developed at Agensys.

PSCA is a cancer antigen expressed in many malignancies, including prostate, pancreatic, bladder, esophagus, and gastric cancers. Bellicum is developing BPX-601, a GoCAR-T product candidate targeting PSCA that has demonstrated robust anti-tumor activity in preclinical studies.

Under the terms of the license agreement, Agensys will receive an upfront license fee, and is eligible for clinical and sales milestones, as well as single-digit royalties on the sales of any products developed pursuant to the license.

Astellas or Agensys retains the option for commercialization of any product targeting PSCA based on Bellicum's CAR-T cell technology in Japan. If the option is exercised, Bellicum would receive an option fee from Astellas or Agensys, and the amount for certain clinical and sales milestones to be paid to Agensys would be reduced.

Bellicum would also receive royalties from Astellas or Agensys based upon sales of such product in Japan.