Aptevo Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:APVO) received royalty payments from Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) on sales of rituximab biosimilar product (RUXIENCE).
The FDA approved RUXIENCE in July last year, and Pfizer launched the drug in the US and Japan markets at the beginning of this year. RUXIENCE is approved in the US for treating chronic Lymphotic leukemia, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, Microscopic Polyangiitis with glucocorticoids, and Granulomatosis with Polyangiitis.
Royalty payment to help Aptevo advance its ADAPTIR platform
The CEO and President of the company Marvin White indicated that they were pleased to receive the first royalty stream from Pfizer and were looking forward to more payments in the coming quarters. White added that the payments will offer non-dilutive funding, which will help support the organization’s activities. The funding will support the advancement of the company’s novel ADAPTIR bi-specific antibody platform and also its lead ADAPTIR candidate, APVO436. The product is progressing to Phase 1/1b clinical trial for acute myeloid leukemia treatment. The CEO indicated that the company is currently dosing subjects in cohort six of the trial.
The royalty payment that Aptevo received is connected to the agreement the company acquired in 2016 as part of the spinoff from Emergent BioSolutions. This agreement applies a consistent royalty rate in single-digit net sales in the US, Japan, and the European Union. Trubion Pharmaceuticals, which was later acquired by Emergent BioSolutions and Pfizer’s wholly-owned subsidiary Wyeth originally executed the agreement.
Aptevo and Alligator Bioscience release ALG.APV-527 data
Aptevo and Alligator Bioscience AB have announced new ALG.APV-527 preclinical data presented at the Virtual PEGS Interactive Global Summit held on June 10, 2020. The oral presentation was titled, ALG.APV-527: tumor-directed T-cell stimulation, in vivo tumor regression, and safety studies of a 4-1BB x 5T4 ADAPTIR™ bispecific antibody.”
Jane Gross, the company’s chief scientific officer, indicated that the ALG.APV-527 preclinical data was encouraging, showing that ALG.APV-527 has the potential of overcoming limitations observed with 4-1BB monoclonal antibody therapies. This is by enhancing biodistribution and possible safety and efficacy observed in the novel immunotherapies.
