PIERIS PHARMACEUTICALS, INC. (NASDAQ:PIRS) Files An 8-K Entry into a Material Definitive Agreement
Item1.01 Entry into a Material Definitive Agreement.
On January4, 2017, Pieris Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (the Company) and
Pieris Pharmaceuticals GmbH, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the
Company (together with the Company, Pieris), entered into a
License and Collaboration Agreement (the Collaboration Agreement)
and a Non-Exclusive Anticalin Platform Technology License
Agreement (the License Agreement and together with the
Collaboration Agreement, the Agreements) with Les Laboratoires
Servier and Institut de Recherches Internationales Servier
(collectively, Servier), to which Pieris and Servier will
initially pursue five bispecific therapeutic programs, led by
Pieris PRS-332 program, a PD-1-targeting bispecific checkpoint
inhibitor. Pieris and Servier will jointly develop PRS-332 and
split commercial rights geographically, with Pieris retaining all
commercial rights in the United States and Servier having
commercial rights in the rest of the world. The four additional
committed programs have been defined, which may combine
antibodies from the Servier portfolio with one or more Anticalin
proteins based on Pieris proprietary platform to generate
innovative immuno-oncology bispecific drug candidates. The
collaboration may be expanded by up to three additional
therapeutic programs. Pieris has the option to co-develop and
retain commercial rights in the United States for up to three
programs beyond PRS-332, while Servier will be responsible for
development and commercialization of the other programs
worldwide.
Under the Agreements, Pieris will receive an upfront payment of
EUR30 million (approximately 31.3million USD). Pieris may also
receive FTE funding for specific projects, as well as
development-dependent and commercial milestone payments for
PRS-332 and each additional program. The total development,
regulatory and sales-based milestone payments to Pieris could
exceed EUR1.7 billion (approximately 1.8 billion USD) over the
life of the collaboration and are dependent on the final number
of projects pursued and the number of co-development options
exercised by Pieris. Pieris and Servier will share preclinical
and clinical development costs for each co-developed program. In
addition, Pieris will be entitled to receive tiered royalties up
to low double digits on the sales of commercialized products in
the Servier territories.
The term of each Agreement ends upon the expiration of all of
Serviers payment obligations under such Agreement.The Agreements
may be terminated by Servier for convenience beginning 12 months
after their effective date upon 180 days notice. The Agreements
may also be terminated by Servier or Pieris for material breach
upon 90 days or 120 days notice of a material breach, with
respect to the Collaboration Agreement and License Agreement,
respectively, provided that the applicable party has not cured
such breach by the applicable 90-day or 120-day permitted cure
period, and dispute resolution procedures specified in the
applicable Agreement have been followed. The Agreements may also
be terminated due to the other partys insolvency or for a safety
issue and may in certain instances be terminated on a
product-by-product and/or country-by-country basis. The License
Agreement will terminate upon termination of the Collaboration
Agreement, on a product-by-product and/or country-by-country
basis.
The foregoing description of the Agreements does not purport to
be complete and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the
Agreements, which Pieris intends to file as exhibits to its
Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ending December31, 2016.
A copy of the press release announcing the Agreements is attached
to this Current Report as Exhibit 99.1 and is incorporated herein
by reference.
Item9.01 Financial Statements and Exhibits
(d)Exhibits.
| 99.1 | Joint Press Release, dated January5, 2017. |
About PIERIS PHARMACEUTICALS, INC. (NASDAQ:PIRS)
Pieris Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company. The Company’s pipeline includes immuno-oncology multi-specifics tailored for the tumor micro-environment, an inhaled Anticalin to treat uncontrolled asthma and a half-life-optimized Anticalin to treat anemia. Its Anticalins proteins are a class of low molecular-weight therapeutic proteins derived from lipocalins, which are naturally occurring low-molecular weight human proteins typically found in blood plasma and other bodily fluids. It is focused on developing three drug candidates, which include PRS-080, PRS-060 and PRS-300 series. Its PRS-080 is an Anticalin drug candidate targeting hepcidin. The Company’s second Anticalin drug candidate, PRS-060, binds to the IL-4 receptor alpha-chain (IL-4RA), thereby inhibiting the actions of IL-4 and IL-13, two cytokines known to be mediators in the inflammatory cascade that causes asthma and other inflammatory diseases. PRS-343 is an Anticalin-based drug candidate. PIERIS PHARMACEUTICALS, INC. (NASDAQ:PIRS) Recent Trading Information
PIERIS PHARMACEUTICALS, INC. (NASDAQ:PIRS) closed its last trading session up +0.34 at 1.80 with 82,505 shares trading hands.
