Pfizer exercises option to license BIND Therapeutics’ Accurin drug candidate

The Accurin drug candidate is intended at treating solid tumors. The actively targeted Accurin is designed to impart cellular targeting capability.

Pfizer’s decision results in a $2.5m payment to BIND, which will not undertake the second compound that was available under the deal.

BIND received an upfront payment of $4m in 2013 and achieved a $1m preclinical development milestone for the selected Accurin in December last year.

The company will potentially receive up to $86m in development and regulatory-related milestones, up to $110m in commercial milestones and low single- to high single-digit royalties on future sales.

BIND Therapeutics president and CEO Andrew Hirsch said: "This milestone with Pfizer is an important step toward our goal of advancing this innovative Accurin drug candidate into clinical testing.

"Working closely with Pfizer has allowed us to identify the Accurin candidate with the greatest potential in the collaboration. We now have the potential to have at least four Accurins in clinical development over the next two years, both through collaborations and with internal product candidates."

Pfizer senior vice president for oncology-rinat research & development group Robert Abraham said: "BIND’s Accurin technology may help us to achieve an optimal efficacy-safety ratio for this investigational drug. We look forward to further exploring this potential in our ongoing collaboration with BIND."

BIND is collaborating with Pfizer, AstraZeneca, F. Hoffmann-La Roche, Merck, and Macrophage Therapeutics to develop Accurins based on their therapeutic payloads and/or targeting ligands.

The company has secured approval from the the US Food and Drug Administration to start clinical trials with the Aurora B Kinase inhibitor Accurin AZD2811.