CytomX Announces Selection by Bristol-Myers Squibb of First Clinical Candidate

CytomX Therapeutics, Inc. recently announced that Bristol-Myers Squibb has selected a clinical candidate for its CTLA-4 Probody program under the strategic oncology collaboration established in May 2014. Achieving this milestone results in a $2-million payment to CytomX.

“Selecting a candidate for the CTLA-4 Probody program is a pivotal development in our partnership with CytomX Therapeutics and builds on our IO leadership,” said Carl Decicco, PhD, Head of Discovery at Bristol-Myers Squibb. “We are studying the CTLA-4 Probody for its potential to deliver a next-generation anti-CTLA-4 therapy as we continue to explore transformational immuno-oncology medicines.”

CTLA-4, a clinically validated inhibitory immune checkpoint protein, is the most advanced target from the companies’ collaboration, which now also includes three additional, unnamed targets in discovery.

“Advancing our CTLA-4 Probody program to clinical candidate stage with Bristol-Myers Squibb underscores the potential of the Probody platform to transform the field of immuno-oncology by delivering safer, more effective therapies,” said Sean McCarthy, DPhil, President and Chief Executive Officer of CytomX. “This partnership milestone, taken together with CytomX’s recently filed Investigational New Drug application for CX-072, a wholly owned PD-L1-directed Probody therapeutic, highlights the potential of our innovative platform to deliver a new generation of anti-cancer treatments.”

Under the terms of the May 2014 agreement, CytomX granted Bristol-Myers Squibb exclusive worldwide rights to discover, develop, and commercialize Probody therapeutics for up to four oncology targets. Bristol-Myers Squibb made an upfront payment of $50 million to CytomX in 2014, and is providing research funding over the course of the research term. Upon the selection of the third and fourth targets, Bristol-Myers Squibb paid CytomX selection payments. CytomX is also eligible to receive additional preclinical payments and up to $298 million in development, regulatory, and sales milestone payments for each collaboration target, as well as tiered royalties rising from mid-single digit to low double digits on net sales of each product commercialized by Bristol-Myers Squibb.

CytomX is an oncology-focused biopharmaceutical company pioneering a novel class of investigational antibody therapeutics based on its Probody technology platform. The company uses the platform to create proprietary cancer immunotherapies against clinically validated targets, as well as to develop first-in-class investigational cancer therapeutics against novel targets. CytomX believes that its Probody platform has the potential to improve the combined efficacy and safety profile of monoclonal antibody modalities, including cancer immunotherapies, antibody drug conjugates, and T-cell-recruiting bispecific antibodies. Probody therapeutics are designed to take advantage of unique conditions in the tumor microenvironment to enhance the tumor-targeting features of an antibody and reduce drug activity in healthy tissues. The company’s investigational Probody therapeutics address clinically validated cancer targets in immuno-oncology, such as PD-L1, against which the clinical candidate CX-072 is directed, as well as novel targets, such as CD-166, that are difficult to drug without causing damage to healthy tissues. In addition to its proprietary programs, CytomX is collaborating with strategic partners, including AbbVie, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Pfizer Inc., MD Anderson Cancer Center, and ImmunoGen, Inc. For more information, visit www.cytomx.com.