Bristol-Myers Squibb licenses cancer therapy from Bavarian Nordic

Bristol-Myers Squibb has signed an exclusive agreement with Bavarian Nordic to license Prostvac, a prostate-specific antigen-targeting cancer immunotherapy.

The deal gives Bristol-Myers Squibb an exclusive option to license and commercialise the investigational phase III candidate, which is in development for the treatment of asymptomatic or minimally symptomatic metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer.

An investigator-sponsored phase II study is currently in the planning stages to investigate a combination of Prostvac with Bristol-Myers Squibb's Yervoy, with the new partnership to potentially include other combination studies.

In addition to the transfer of financial assets, the parties have agreed to enter into a supply contract, under which Bavarian Nordic will undertake the future commercial manufacturing of Prostvac.

Michael Giordano, head of development for Bristol-Myers Squibb's oncology division, said: "Our agreement with Bavarian Nordic reflects our commitment to following the emerging science in immuno-oncology and supports our strategy to transform the treatment of cancer across multiple tumour types, lines of therapy and stages of disease."

This comes after the firm allied with Celldex Therapeutics last month to begin a clinical trial of a new combination cancer therapy.