Eli Lilly and Company and ImmunoGen, a Waltham, Massachusetts-based bio/pharmaceutical company, have formed a multiyear licensing agreement to research, develop, and commercialize antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), in a deal worth up to $1.7 billion.

The deal involves targets selected by Lilly using immunogen’s camptothecin linker-payloads. Camptothecins are a class of anticancer drugs targeting Type I topoisomerase, which are enzymes that cut one of the two strands of double-stranded DNA, relax the strand, and re-anneal the strand.

As part of the agreement, Lilly will pay ImmunoGen an upfront payment of $13 million, reflecting initial targets selected by Lilly. Lilly may select a pre-specified number of additional targets, with ImmunoGen eligible to receive an additional $32.5 million in exercise fees if Lilly licenses the full number of targets. ImmunoGen is eligible to receive up to $1.7 billion in potential target program exercise fees and milestone payments based on the achievement of pre-specified development, regulatory, and commercial milestones. ImmunoGen is also eligible for tiered royalties as a percentage of global commercial sales by Lilly. Lilly is responsible for all costs associated with research and development.

Source: ImmunoGen