Under the deal terms, Bluejay will have the sole licence to Exicure’s patents relevant to hepatitis.
Bluejay made an initial payment to Exicure following the deal execution.
In addition to this payment, Exicure is eligible to receive royalty payments on net sales of all licensed technology by Bluejay throughout the duration of the patents in the future.
Exicure will retain responsibility for the patents, overseeing their preparation, prosecution, filing, and maintenance.
In June 2023, Bluejay announced the conclusion of Phase Ia portion and the commencement of subject enrolment in Phase Ib cohorts analysing BJT-778, a monoclonal antibody targeting the hepatitis B surface antigen.
The company’s financial growth was bolstered in August 2022 when it secured $41m in a Series B financing round.
The round was led by Arkin Bio Ventures, with contributions from Synergenics, RiverVest Venture Partners, Yonjin Capital, Octagon Capital, and InnoPinnacle International.
Specialising in virology and liver disease, Bluejay Therapeutics is advancing two preclinical programmes aimed at reducing HBsAg load and restoring antiviral immunity to develop a functional cure for chronic hepatitis B virus (CHBV) infection.
Exicure CEO Paul Kang said: “Our partnership with Bluejay continues the development of cavrotolimod.
“Exicure has spent considerable resources to discover and develop cavrotolimod. While historically, we focused on oncology, Bluejay’s commitment and expertise in developing cavrotolimod for potential treatment of hepatitis makes them an ideal partner to expand the use case of cavrotolimod.”