Vical has received $2.5m installment payment from AnGes for the company’s ongoing Allovectin-7 phase 3 metastatic melanoma trial.
Reportedly, through a series of cash payments and equity investments under a previously announced collaborative agreement, Vical has now received the full $22.6m committed by AnGes prior to trial completion. The trial is expected to complete enrollment of the planned 375 subjects by year-end 2009.
Vical is conducting the AIMM (Allovectin-7 Immunotherapeutic for Metastatic Melanoma) phase 3 pivotal trial targeting enrollment of approximately 375 patients with Stage III or IV metastatic melanoma.
The company said that in exchange for funding the trial, AnGes has received exclusive marketing rights in Japan and other key Asian countries, and also will receive certain royalties for sales in the US and European countries.
Moreover, AnGes is obligated to pay Vical royalties on product sales in the specified Asian countries, plus certain sales-based milestone payments if defined sales levels are achieved.
However, Vical is obligated to pay AnGes tiered royalties based on defined sales levels in the US, and fixed royalties on rest-of-world sales. Each company will be responsible for obtaining regulatory approvals in any countries where it plans to market Allovectin-7.
Vijay Samant, president and CEO at Vical, said: “We remain on track with patient enrollment and we expect data next year. Assuming the results are positive, Allovectin-7 could become the first new front-line therapy for metastatic melanoma in nearly two decades.”