Cell Genesys and Takeda to develop prostate cancer therapy

Under the agreement, in exchange for exclusive worldwide commercial rights to Gvax, Takeda will pay Cell Genesys an upfront payment of $50 million and additional milestone payments totaling up to $270 million relating to regulatory approval and commercialization of Gvax immunotherapy in the US, EU and Japan. Takeda will pay Cell Genesys tiered, double-digit royalties based on net sales of Gvax immunotherapy in the US and flat double-digit royalties based on net sales of the product in all other regions.

From this point onward, Takeda will pay for all external development costs associated with the ongoing Phase III clinical development of Gvax immunotherapy and will also pay for all additional development costs and all commercialization costs. Cell Genesys will maintain responsibility for the worldwide manufacture and supply of the product and will retain rights to co-promote Gvax immunotherapy for prostate cancer in the US.

Yasuchika Hasegawa, president of Takeda, said: “We are excited to have added GVAX immunotherapy for prostate cancer to our growing oncology pipeline and are eager to do all that we can to ensure its commercial success in the US and globally.”