Bristol-Myers Squibb licenses antibody programme from Five Prime

Bristol-Myers Squibb has licensed a colony stimulating factor 1 receptor (CSF1R) antibody programme from Five Prime Therapeutics.

The exclusive worldwide license and collaboration agreement encompasses the development and commercialisation of the antibody programme, including FPA008, which is in phase I development for immunology and oncology indications.

This replaces the companies' existing clinical collaboration agreement, which was intended to evaluate the safety, tolerability and preliminary efficacy of combining Bristol-Myers Squibb's Opdivo with FPA008 in six tumour types.

Bristol-Myers Squibb has a number of clinical candidates and approved products that may have therapeutic synergy when coupled with FPA008, given the potential of CSF1R inhibition to suppress the activity and survival of tumour-associated macrophages.

Francis Cuss, executive vice-president and chief scientific officer of Bristol-Myers Squibb, said this agreement "is another important example of our commitment to expanding our presence in this space and to researching novel combination regimens".

Under the terms of the agreement, Bristol-Myers Squibb will make an upfront payment of $350 million (225.87 million pounds) to Five Prime, plus up to $1.05 billion in development and regulatory milestone payments, and up to $340 million in other milestone fees.