License to Pill: Biotech and pharma deals from Jan. 30-Feb. 12

Gilead Sciences Inc.'s bet on a vaccine for HIV, alongside five agreements for cancer therapies, formed the bulk of licensing deals in the first two weeks of February, according to data compiled by S&P Global Market Intelligence.

Since mRNA vaccines have proved effective against COVID-19, Gilead has entered into an agreement with Gritstone Oncology Inc. to use its vaccine platform of self-amplifying mRNA and adenoviral vectors, along with Gilead's own antigens, to develop a vaccine for HIV — a long-sought-after goal of the pharmaceutical industry.

Bristol Myers Squibb Co. signed two licensing agreements: paying $70 million up front to enter into a research collaboration with Austin, Texas-based Molecular Templates Inc. to develop cancer treatments using a new class of targeted therapies called engineered toxin bodies; and securing the global exclusive license for Rockefeller University's novel monoclonal antibody duo treatment for COVID-19.

Meanwhile, pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc. followed up on its 2017 research collaboration with Imcyse SA with a deal to use the biotech's Imotope technology of cytolytic T cells to potentially treat rheumatoid arthritis.

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Oncology therapies dominated the remaining licensing deals for the two-week period, with Roche Holding AG unit Genentech entering into an agreement with X-Chem, Inc. to use the Waltham, Mass.-based company's DEL platform to identify novel drugs for multiple cancer types, as well as an exclusive license to X-Chem's existing preclinical, small molecule oncology program.

AbbVie Inc. agreed to pay $40 million up front to use Caribou Biosciences Inc.'s CRISPR gene editing platform to engineer two new chimeric antigen receptor T cell therapies.

Coherus BioSciences Inc. announced a $150 million deal to develop melanoma treatment toripalimab, Shanghai Junshi Biosciences Co. Ltd.'s anti-PD-1 antibody, in the U.S. and Canada. The price tag also covers options to evaluate Junshi Biosciences' T cell immunoreceptor-targeted antibody and next-generation engineered IL-2 cytokine as potential combination therapies with toripalimab, as well as negotiation rights to two early-stage checkpoint inhibitor antibodies.

Osaka, Japan-based Ono Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. entered into an agreement with Ribon Therapeutics Inc. to develop and commercialize the Lexington, Mass.-based company's experimental cancer therapy RBN-2397 in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and ASEAN countries.