Another 1B$ for preclinical data: Merck to pair with JanuxValue of preclinical data ... Another example ... 1B$ for an adjuvant that has yet to be tested in clinical trials.
TLT, on its side, is 33% into a Ph.2b with already 4 patients (2 from Ph. 1b and 2 so far from Ph. 2b) that have been cancer free for 450-days, since their first 90-days! And we spared healthy tissues.
Dec. 2020 -
Janux pairs up with Merck for $1B-plus T-cell engager deal San Diego biotech Janux Therapeutics has penned a major biobucks R&D pact focused on next generation T-cell engager immunotherapies in cancer.
Merck will tap Janux’s so-called Tumor Activated T Cell Engager (TRACTr) tech to engineer new, T-cell engager drug candidates against two cancer targets selected by Merck.
Merck gets exclusive worldwide license to products and intellectual property from the collab, and, in return, Janux could get as much as $500.5 million per target in upfront and milestone payments, plus royalties on sales of any products derived from the collaboration.
Merck said in a statement that it will fund the research.
This comes in a year that has seen a flurry of deals from the usually pact-shy Merck, which include COVID-19 work as well as cancer, such as its Dragonfly Therapeutics pact for its TriNKET immunotherapy candidate and its $2.8 billion deal to snap up VelosBio and snag its anti-ROR1 ADC.
Merck wants to make broader bets in cancer, hoping to once again strike gold as it did with checkpoint inhibitor Keytruda, which has become one of the biggest-selling medicines ever made.
T-cell engagers are an emerging class of immunotherapies that bind to a tumor cell and recruit a patient’s T cells to eradicate tumor cells. There have been attempts at this in the past, but safety concerns have curtailed some of the research.
Janux believes, and Merck must now, too, that its tech can overcome these issues “by integrating tumor-specific activation with crossover pharmacokinetics to produce best-in-class T cell engager therapeutics.”
In early preclinical work, its candidates have shown “comparable anti-tumor efficacy relative to standard T cell engagers but lack the associated liabilities related to cytokine release, healthy tissue toxicities, or systemic immune activation.” The proof, however, will need to be shown in clinical trials.
“At Janux, we have developed a technology to engineer best-in-class T cell engagers that are potent and highly tumor specific, which is essential for an immune response that kills tumor cells but spares healthy tissue,” said David Campbell, Ph.D., president and CEO of Janux.
“Partnering with Merck, a world leader in immuno-oncology, provides us with important expertise and resources in developing next generation T cell engager therapies that will make immunotherapy work for more cancer patients.”
Currently, Janux says it is focusing on colorectal, gastroesophageal, prostrate, non-small cell lung, triple negative breast and ovarian cancers.
May 2021 -
Merck-partnered Janux seeks $100M IPO on preclinical promise of bispecific pipeline Janux Therapeutics has filed to raise up to $100 million in an IPO. The Merck-partnered biotech wants the money to take a clutch of T-cell engager drug candidates into phase 1 clinical trials.
The IPO paperwork features the findings of an initial proof-of-technology study that showed its EGFR prospect did not lead to cytokine release syndrome in nonhuman primates and drove tumor shrinkage in a mouse model. Janux has preclinical data on its other candidates, too.
San Diego-based Janux has raised $201 million from investors including Avalon Ventures and RA Capital since setting up shop in 2017. Using the money, Janux has established a preclinical pipeline based on its TRACTr platform. The platform is designed to overcome the limitations of existing T-cell engagers and, in doing so, realize the potential of the modality in solid tumors.
In addition to the early evidence, Janux has the validation of its investor syndicate and Merck, which teamed up with the biotech late last year to work on TRACTr candidates against two cancer targets.
The Merck collaboration, which is currently Janux’s sole source of revenue, generated $380,000 for the biotech over the first three months of the year. Merck paid $8 million upfront to kick off work on the first collaboration and will pay the same amount when the second target is selected.
Janux could ultimately receive almost $500 million in success-based fees per target, but the payments are heavily backloaded, with $350 million tied to sales milestones. The development and regulatory milestones are worth up to $142.5 million per target.
Janux is asking public investors to back it on the strength of early-stage evidence. The IPO paperwork features the findings of an initial proof-of-technology study that showed its EGFR prospect did not lead to cytokine release syndrome in nonhuman primates and drove tumor shrinkage in a mouse model. Janux has preclinical data on its other candidates, too.
In addition to the early evidence, Janux has the validation of its investor syndicate and Merck, which teamed up with the biotech late last year to work on TRACTr candidates against two cancer targets.
The Merck collaboration, which is currently Janux’s sole source of revenue, generated $380,000 for the biotech over the first three months of the year. Merck paid $8 million upfront to kick off work on the first collaboration and will pay the same amount when the second target is selected.
Janux could ultimately receive almost $500 million in success-based fees per target, but the payments are heavily backloaded, with $350 million tied to sales milestones. The development and regulatory milestones are worth up to $142.5 million per target.