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news.Sunesis Pharmaceuticals, a biopharmaceutical company, has sold to SARcode its intellectual property and other assets in its LFA-1 inhibitor program previously licensed to SARcode for a total cash consideration of $2 million.
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As a result of this sale, Sunesis and SARcode have terminated an earlier licensing agreement relating to this program, and Sunesis will forego future potential milestone payments and royalties under this licensing agreement.
SARcode’s lead product candidate, SAR1118, is a small molecule LFA-1 inhibitor being developed for T-cell mediated ophthalmic diseases. Under the original licensing agreement between the parties, Sunesis granted SARcode an exclusive, worldwide license to patents and know-how related to Sunesis’s LFA-1 inhibitor program in exchange for license fees, convertible notes, milestone payments as well as potential royalty payments.
Under this licensing agreement, Sunesis has received milestone payments in the form of cash or convertible notes for the selection of SAR1118 as a development candidate, and for the initiation of a Phase I trial of SAR1118. Sunesis still holds a series of secured convertible notes issued by SARcode having a total principal value of $1 million.
Daniel Swisher, CEO of Sunesis, said: “Consistent with our strategy to focus our resources on advancing voreloxin, our novel investigational anticancer drug candidate currently being developed for acute myeloid leukemia and ovarian cancer, we made the decision to monetize our milestone and royalty rights in SARcode’s LFA-1 program. We have been impressed with the progress of SAR1118 to date and retain an interest in the future success of this program through our convertible notes.”