Prima BioMed To Get 2nd Milestone Payment From Novartis For IMP701 Program

(RTTNews) - Prima BioMed Ltd (PRR.AX, PBMD)announced late Sunday that it will receive a second undisclosed significant clinical milestone payment from Novartis (NVS). The payment is based on the collaboration and licensing agreement between the companies, relating to Prima's IMP701 LAG-3 antibody, also referred to as LAG525.

The LAG525 antibody is currently being evaluated in clinical trials together with Novartis' PD1 inhibitor PDR001 for the treatment of cancer. The company noted that Novartis has full responsibility for the continued development of the antibody program.

Prima is eligible to receive further potential development-based milestone payments and royalties on sales following commercialisation of the products.

IMP701 is a therapeutic antibody originally developed by Immutep S.A.S to target LAG-3. This antagonist antibody plays a role in controlling the signalling pathways in both effector T cells and regulatory T cells or Treg.

IMP701 was licensed to CoStim Pharmaceuticals in 2012 which was subsequently acquired by Novartis in 2014.

In Australia, Prima BioMed shares were gaining around 4 percent on Monday's trading.