November 2017

Agenus announced the receipt of a $4 million payment for the advancement of an undisclosed antibody under the license and research collaboration agreement with Merck.

Merck is responsible for all future product development expenses for the selected antibody and Agenus is eligible to receive up to an additional $99 million in milestone payments, as well as royalties on worldwide product sales.

3 June 2015

Agenus announced today that Merck has extended its collaborative research term under its existing collaboration and license agreement with Agenus, for the discovery and development of therapeutic antibodies to Merck proprietary immune checkpoints for the treatment of cancer.

28 April 2014

Agenus has entered into a collaboration and license agreement with Merck for the discovery and development of therapeutic antibodies to immune checkpoints for the treatment of cancer.

Agenus will discover and optimize fully human antibodies against two undisclosed Merck checkpoint targets using the 4-Antibody Retrocyte Display platform.

Merck will be responsible for clinical development and commercialization of candidates generated under the collaboration.

Agenus is eligible to receive approximately $100 million in potential payments associated with the completion of certain clinical, regulatory and commercial milestones for two candidates from Merck.

Agenus is eligible to receive royalty payments on worldwide product sales.

November 2017

Agenus Receives License Fee of $4M USD From Merck

Entitled up to an additional $99 million USD in success milestones plus royalties on sales

LEXINGTON, Mass., Nov. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Agenus Inc. (NASDAQ: AGEN), an immuno-oncology (I-O) company with a pipeline of immune checkpoint antibodies and cancer vaccines, today announced the receipt of a $4 million payment for the advancement of an undisclosed antibody under the license and research collaboration agreement with Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada.

As previously announced, Merck is responsible for all future product development expenses for the selected antibody and Agenus is eligible to receive up to an additional $99 million in milestone payments, as well as royalties on worldwide product sales.

"We are very pleased with the progress of our collaboration with Merck and the advancement of this antibody towards the clinic," said Garo Armen, Ph.D. Chairman and CEO of Agenus. "Our integrated antibody discovery platforms and expertise culminates in discovering antibodies for a broad range of targets, including challenging ones, as was the case with this particular candidate."

About Agenus

Agenus is a clinical-stage immuno-oncology company focused on the discovery and development of therapies that engage the body's immune system to fight cancer. The Company's vision is to expand the patient populations benefiting from cancer immunotherapy by pursuing a number of combination approaches that leverage a broad repertoire of antibody therapeutics and proprietary cancer vaccine platforms. The Company is equipped with a suite of antibody discovery platforms and a state-of-the-art GMP manufacturing facility with the capacity to support early phase clinical programs. Agenus is headquartered in Lexington, MA. For more information, please visit www.agenusbio.com; information that may be important to investors will be routinely posted on our website.

3 June 2015

Merck & Co. (MRK) Extends Immuno-Oncology Collaboration With Agenus (AGEN)

6/3/2015 8:53:22 AM

Collaboration involves two proprietary Merck targets

LEXINGTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Agenus Inc. (NASDAQ: AGEN), an immunology company developing innovative treatments for cancers and other diseases, announced today that Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, through a subsidiary, has extended its collaborative research term under its existing collaboration and license agreement with Agenus, for the discovery and development of therapeutic antibodies to Merck proprietary immune checkpoints for the treatment of cancer.

“We believe our antibody generating technology is now the most extensive in vitro platform in the industry with significant advantages for creation of high quality antibody candidates.”

Under the terms of the original agreement, Agenus will discover and optimize fully human antibodies against two undisclosed Merck checkpoint targets using the Retrocyte Display™ platform. Merck will be responsible for the further development and commercialization of candidates generated under the collaboration. The discovery phase has been extended to April 2016. As previously disclosed, under the terms of the agreement, Agenus is eligible to receive approximately $100 million in milestone payments as well as royalties on worldwide product sales.

“This collaboration has resulted in encouraging outcomes, and we’re delighted that a leader in the rapidly developing immuno-oncology space has elected to extend this discovery phase of our collaboration,” said Robert Stein, MD, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer of Agenus Inc. "We believe our antibody generating technology is now the most extensive in vitro platform in the industry with significant advantages for creation of high quality antibody candidates.”

About Agenus Agenus is an immunology company developing a series of Checkpoint Modulators for the treatment of patients with cancer, infectious diseases, and other immune disorders, heat shock protein (HSP)-based vaccines, and immune adjuvants. These programs are supported by three separate technology platforms. Agenus’ internal and partnered checkpoint modulator programs target GITR, OX40, CTLA-4, LAG-3, TIM-3, PD-1 and other undisclosed programs. The company’s proprietary discovery engine Retrocyte DisplayTM is used to generate fully human and humanized therapeutic antibody drug candidates. The Retrocyte Display platform uses a high-throughput approach incorporating IgG format human antibody libraries expressed in mammalian B-lineage cells. Agenus recently acquired a powerful yeast antibody display platform termed SECANT, developed by Celexion, LLC. SECANT allows rapid generation of soluble, full-length human antibodies. SECANT and Agenus’ mammalian antibody display platform have complementary strengths and further bolster Agenus' abilities to generate and optimize fully human monoclonal antibodies. Agenus’ heat shock protein-based vaccines have completed Phase 2 studies in newly diagnosed glioblastoma multiforme, and in the treatment of herpes simplex viral infection; the heat shock protein-based vaccine platform can generate personalized as well as off the shelf products. The company’s QS-21 Stimulon® adjuvant platform is extensively partnered with GlaxoSmithKline and with Janssen Sciences Ireland UC and includes several candidates in Phase 2 trials, as well as shingles and malaria vaccines which have successfully completed Phase 3 clinical trials. For more information, please visit www.agenusbio.com, or connect with the company on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Google+; information that may be important to investors will be routinely posted in these locations.

28 April 2014

Agenus (AGEN) Could Net $100 Million From Cancer Immunotherapy Pact With Merck & Co., Inc. (MRK)

Agenus Announces Collaboration and License Agreement with Merck for Novel Checkpoint Antibody-Based Cancer Immunotherapies

LEXINGTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Agenus Inc. (NASDAQ: AGEN) announced today that the company has entered into a collaboration and license agreement with Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, through a subsidiary, for the discovery and development of therapeutic antibodies to immune checkpoints for the treatment of cancer. Under the terms of the agreement, Agenus will discover and optimize fully human antibodies against two undisclosed Merck checkpoint targets using the 4-Antibody Retrocyte Display® platform. Merck will be responsible for clinical development and commercialization of candidates generated under the collaboration.

Under the terms of the agreement, Agenus is eligible to receive approximately $100 million in potential payments associated with the completion of certain clinical, regulatory and commercial milestones for two candidates from Merck. In addition, Agenus is eligible to receive royalty payments on worldwide product sales.

“We are delighted to be working with Merck, who is a leader in the rapidly developing immuno-oncology space," said Bob Stein, MD, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer of Agenus Inc. "We believe our Retrocyte Display technology has significant advantages for creation of high quality antibody development candidates. This collaboration broadens our efforts in immuno-oncology beyond our previously disclosed checkpoint programs with a world-class research and development partner."

“This collaboration with Agenus complements our active immuno-oncology discovery programs,” said Dr. Eric Rubin, vice president clinical oncology, Merck Research Laboratories. “We look forward to working to advance these programs with the potential to address the unmet medical needs of people with cancer.”

Agenus acquired 4-Antibody AG, a private European-based biopharmaceutical company in February 2014. The 4-Antibody assets include the Retrocyte Display technology platform for discovery and optimization of fully human antibodies against a wide array of molecular targets. Agenus has multiple preclinical checkpoint modulator programs in development including GITR and OX40 agonists and antagonists of TIM-3, LAG-3, PD-1 and CTLA-4. These programs are being pursued through a strategic collaboration with Ludwig Cancer Research.

About Checkpoint Modulators

Clinical data from studies employing monoclonal antibodies that bind to checkpoint molecules, such as cytotoxic T lymphocyte antigen-4 (CTLA-4) and programmed death receptor-1 (PD-1), have generated considerable excitement in the field of immuno-oncology. Checkpoints are employed by the body to prevent a runaway immune response, which can be debilitating or deadly. Unfortunately, these very same checkpoint mechanisms can also be used by cancer cells as a defense against immune attack. Antibodies that bind to PD-1 and CTLA-4 are designed to help immune cells overcome the checkpoint defenses of cancer cells. Other checkpoint proteins, such as GITR and OX40, are receptors found on T cells that stimulate immune function. Agenus and Ludwig Cancer Research are driving leading-edge programs to discover and develop fully human monoclonal antibodies that bind to key checkpoint proteins and activate or block their activities for use in cancer therapy.

About Agenus

Agenus is an immuno-oncology company developing a portfolio of checkpoint modulators (CPMs), heat shock protein vaccines and adjuvants. Agenus’ checkpoint modulator programs target GITR, OX40, CTLA-4, LAG-3, TIM-3 and PD-1. The company’s proprietary discovery engine Retrocyte Display® is used to generate fully human therapeutic antibody drug candidates. The Retrocyte Display platform uses a high-throughput approach incorporating IgG format human antibody libraries expressed in mammalian B-lineage cells. Agenus’ heat shock protein vaccines for cancer and infectious disease are in Phase 2 studies. The company’s QS-21 Stimulon® adjuvant platform is extensively partnered with GlaxoSmithKline and Janssen and includes several candidates in Phase 3 trials. Among Agenus and its partners, 22 programs are in clinical development. For more information, please visit www.agenusbio.com, or connect with the company on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Google+.