DRL's Aurigene ties up with US firm Curis

HYDERABAD: Aurigene, the biotechnology arm of Dr Reddy's Laboratories, today said it has entered into a exclusive collaboration with US-based Curis Inc to focus on immuno-oncology and selected precision oncology targets that could fetch it millions of dollars in payments.

The parties will collaborate exclusively in immuno- oncology for an initial period of approximately two years, with an option for Curis to extend the broad immuno-oncology exclusivity, DRL said in a press release.

For the first two programmes, Curis has agreed to make payments of up to USD 52.5 million per programme including USD 42.5 million for approval and commercial milestones, plus pre-specified approval milestone payments for additional indications, if any, to Aurigene.

For the third and fourth programmes, Curis will pay up to USD 50 million per programme, including USD 42.5 million for approval and commercial milestones, plus pre-specified approval milestone payments for additional indications, if any while for any programme thereafter it will pay up to USD 140.5 million per programme, including USD 87.5 million for the other issues, if any, it added.

"The partnership draws from each company's respective areas of expertise, with Aurigene having the responsibility for conducting all discovery and preclinical activities, including IND-enabling studies and providing Phase 1 clinical trial supply, and Curis responsible for all clinical development, regulatory and commercialisation efforts worldwide, excluding India and Russia," the release said.

The first two programmes under the collaboration are an orally available small molecule antagonist of programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1) in the immuno-oncology field, and an orally available, small molecule inhibitor of Interleukin-1 receptor-associated kinase 4 (IRAK4) in the precision oncology field, it added.