Gilead Sciences and Jounce Therapeutics have amended their current license agreement for first-in-class immunotherapy, GS-1811 (formerly JTX-1811).
The initial license agreement was signed in 2020.
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The amended agreement will allow Gilead Sciences to acquire all the remaining rights for GS-1811 from Jounce Therapeutics.
Certain operational obligations of the companies that are related to GS-1811 have also been terminated as part of the transaction.
Pursuant to the deal, Gilead will also buy certain related intellectual property along with all the outstanding rights to GS-1811 from Jounce.
Now, the company will be solely responsible for all further research, development, and commercialisation of GS-1811 across the world.
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By GlobalDataFor the deal, Jounce will receive $67m from Gilead and is no longer entitled to receive the remaining contingent payments of up to $645m in milestones and royalties under the original agreement.
Gilead Oncology Therapeutic Area head senior vice president Bill Grossman said: “Today’s news about GS-1811 further demonstrates our commitment to our rapidly evolving oncology franchise and mission of pioneering next-generation medicines for people with cancer.
“GS-1811, with its potential new pathway of activating the immune system, gives us the opportunity to potentially change the standard of care with a treatment that works from inside cancerous cells to shrink solid tumours.”
The anti-CCR8 antibody, GS-1811 has been designed to reduce immunosuppressive tumour-infiltrating T regulatory cells selectively in the tumour microenvironment.
It is currently being evaluated in Phase I clinical trial for the treatment of solid tumours.
Jounce CEO and president Richard Murray said: “This transaction allows us to extend our runway and remain focused on delivering meaningful and long-lasting benefits to cancer patients.”
