Monash University and Corvus Pharmaceuticals, a US-based clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, have announced an exclusive agreement.
Under the agreement, Corvus has licensed global rights to an undisclosed novel immuno-oncology program, which includes a lead product candidate from Monash University.
Corvus Pharmaceuticals, which focuses on the development and commercialisation of novel immuno-oncology therapies, plans to develop any product candidates that result from the collaboration. These would be developed as monotherapies and potentially as combination therapies with its existing product candidates that target the adenosine receptor pathway. The terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
“This novel immuno-oncology program, developed at one of the leading universities in Australia, has the potential to bolster our drug development capabilities within, and outside of, the adenosine receptor pathway,” said Dr Richard Miller, an oncologist and co-founder, president and CEO of Corvus.
“With this program, we are combining our strong internal R&D with promising new targets and product candidates from an in-licensing opportunity to build a deep immuno-oncology pipeline.”
“With Corvus’ strengths in immunology and oncology and its clinical translational platform, we believe it is well-positioned to advance this promising program into clinical development,” said Professor John Carroll, director of the Biomedicine Discovery Institute at Monash University.
“Professor Charles MacKay and Dr Remy Robert have created a first-class asset for the treatment of cancer. We look forward to collaborating with the Corvus team to help them develop improved therapies for patients,” added Professor Carroll.