AstraZeneca to pay Inovio up to $700m for cancer vaccine

10th Aug 2015 11:48

(ShareCast News) - AstraZeneca has entered into an agreement to buy the rights to an experimental cancer drug from Inovio Pharmaceuticals for up to $700m.Under the terms of the agreement, MedImmune - Astra's global biologics research and development arm - will acquire exclusive rights to Inovio's INO-3112, which targets cancers caused by certain types of human papillomavirus.MedImmue will make an upfront payment of $27.5m to Inovio as well as potential future payments upon reaching development and commercial milestones totalling up to $700m. MedImmune will fund all development costs and Inovio will be entitled to receive royalties on product sales.David Berman, senior vice president and head of the Oncology Innovative Medicines unit at MedImmue, said: "Today's collaboration with Inovio leverages our deep internal expertise in the use of vaccines to drive antigen-specific T-cell responses. The unique combination of our broad immuno-oncology portfolio with Inovio's T-cell-activating INO-3112, which enhances cancer specific killer T-cells, has the potential to deliver real clinical benefits for patients."At 1409 BST, AstraZeneca shares were down 0.6% at 4,295p.