TG Therapeutics, Inc.’s TGTX shares jumped 5.1% after the company announced that it has inked a deal with Coronado Biosciences’ CNDO subsidiary, Checkpoint Therapeutics, for the development and commercialization of therapies in the field of hematological malignancies.
Shares further gained 4.9% in the subsequent trading session. Overall, the company’s shares are up 10.3% since the announcement.
Terms of the Deal
According to the agreement, both companies will conduct research programs on Coronado Biosciences’ fully human anti-PD-L1 and anti-GITR antibodies in the field of hematological malignancies. The candidates, which are currently in pre-clinical development, are expected to enter clinical studies in the second half of 2016. TG Therapeutics will make development and sales-based milestone payments as well as tiered single-digit royalty on net sales to Coronado Biosciences, apart from an upfront payment.
However, Coronado Biosciences retains the right to develop and commercialize both candidates for the treatment of solid tumors.
We note that earlier this week, Coronado Biosciences’ announced the formation of Checkpoint Therapeutics, Inc. as its new subsidiary company. The subsidiary was formed with the aim of developing a portfolio of fully human immuno-oncology therapies including antibodies targeting PD-L1, GITR and CAIX.
Our Take
The highly lucrative immuno-oncology market has been the focus area of several big pharma giants over the last couple of years. In 2014, we have seen several immuno-oncology deals. Interest in this field has been unabated in 2015 with quite a few deals being announced so far. In Jan 2015, AstraZeneca AZN announced a deal with a privately held biotechnology company, Omnis Pharmaceuticals, to combine its key investigational immunotherapy agents with Omnis’ lead oncolytic virus program.
TG Therapeutics carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). A better-ranked stock in the health care sector is Cytokinetics, Inc. CYTK, carrying a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
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