Zydus Cadila, an innovation-driven global pharmaceutical company, and XOMA Corporation today announced they have entered into a licensing agreement to advance an IL-2-based immuno-oncology (IO) drug candidate that combines Zydus’ IL-2 with XOMA’s novel anti-IL-2 monoclonal antibody.

As part of the agreement, Zydus will advance the new IO candidate through formal clinical trials. Zydus has been granted exclusive rights to develop and commercialize the therapy in India, Brazil, Mexico and other emerging markets, and XOMA has the potential to receive single-to double-digit royalties on commercial sales in those territories. XOMA retains rights in all other territories (i.e., XOMA territory). Through this collaboration, Zydus will develop the new IO drug candidate through human proof-of-concept and each company has the potential to receive pre-defined shares of future proceeds that may arise from licensing and commercialization activities.

Speaking about the development, Managing Director of the Zydus group, Dr. Sharvil Patel said, “IL-2 will be the backbone of IO-based therapies for cancer treatment in the future. In this win-win agreement, we see a great strategic fit between our IL-2 and XOMA’s anti-IL-2 monoclonal antibody as together they have the potential to provide a safe and efficacious medicine to address the unmet needs of patients living with cancer.”

Jim Neal, Chief Executive Officer at XOMA commented, “IL-2 has long been recognized asan effective anti-tumor agent, but its utility has been limited by its toxicity. XOMA hasdeveloped unique, fully human antibodies that promote IL-2 action specifically to thecytotoxic effector immune cell populations relevant for anti-tumor activity whilesimultaneously limiting the unwanted stimulation of immunosuppressive T cells, therebyminimizing its undesired side effects. This IL-2 and monoclonal antibody combination hasthe potential to turn the immune system against the cancer cells, and Zydus is an ideal partnerto advance this combination through clinical development.”