Dive Brief:
- Macrogenics is licensing out MGDO11, a preclinical antibody designed to catalyze T-cell response, for $125 million up front and the possibility of an additional $575 million in prospective milestone fees from Johnson & Johnson.
- MacroGenics was up sharply on the news, but has fallen back down to earth since then.
- An IND application is planned for 2015.
Dive Insight:
"MGD011 is a promising product candidate and one that we believe is meaningfully differentiated from competing CD19-directed therapies," said Dr. Scott Koenig, the CEO of MacroGenics, in a statement to FierceBiotech.
"Janssen represents the ideal partner for this product candidate, given their track record of successfully developing and commercializing transformative oncology therapies and their experience in the B-cell malignancy area. We look forward to working with Janssen to significantly expand the development of MGD011 and maximize its value."