PARIS, FRANCE, MONTREAL, CANADA 15 February 2023 – Ipsen (Euronext: IPN; ADR: IPSEY), Université de Montréal and IRICoR announce that Ipsen has exercised its option to acquire exclusive rights to a pre-clinical stage program with potential oncology applications. This license agreement is the result of a fruitful collaboration established between Ipsen, Université de Montréal and IRICoR in May 2020. Ipsen will now assume all development activities and commercialization of the drug candidate globally. Under the terms of the license agreement the Université de Montréal will receive an upfront payment and will be eligible to additional development and commercial milestones, as well as royalties on net sales.
“At Ipsen we believe great partnerships create great possibilities,” said Christelle Huguet SVP, Head of REED, Research, External Innovation & Early Development at Ipsen. “We are energized to take this investigational treatment forward in its development journey, determining its potential across a number of solid tumors and hematological cancers.”
In addition, Ipsen, Université de Montréal and IRICoR are announcing they are further expanding their strategic partnership by entering into a new multi-year collaboration and option agreement for two discovery-stage programs in oncology. Under the terms of the new collaboration and option agreement, the team of interdisciplinary drug discovery scientists at the Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer (IRIC) at the Université de Montréal will be responsible for the identification, synthesis, and advancement of high-quality therapeutic compounds up to drug candidate stage. Ipsen will pay the Université de Montréal an upfront payment and research funding for two compounds that reach the drug candidate stage. Should Ipsen decide to exercise the option, Ipsen would assume all development activities and commercialization of drug candidates globally. Additionally, the Université de Montréal would receive further payments if key development, and commercial milestones are met, and will also be entitled to mid-single to up to low double-digit-tiered royalties for any product commercialized.
“Given Ipsen’s established expertise in oncology we believe they are a fantastic partner to advance the development of this promising molecule, and we look forward to another fruitful research collaboration to advance breakthrough therapies for patients that are underserved by current standards of care,” said Dr. Michel Bouvier, Director General of the Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer at the Université de Montréal.
“The signing of the exclusive license agreement and the initiation of a new collaboration for the discovery of new compounds against high-value oncology targets represent a natural expansion of our strategic partnership with Ipsen” said Claude Larose, VP Business Development at IRICoR. “This program was initially financed by IRICoR before the partnership with Ipsen, so we are excited to see the recent advancement under Ipsen’s leadership and look forward to advancing this new drug-discovery program and if successful, entering into a subsequent license agreement with Ipsen in order to bring these therapies to patients and to establish more opportunities for long-term value creation” Mr. Larose concluded.