Christophe Beauduin

Boston – April 4, 2023 – Cooley advised Scorpion Therapeutics on its exclusive license agreement with Pierre Fabre to co-develop and commercialize STX-721 and STX-241. Lawyers Christophe Beauduin, Carly Robinson, Michael Klein, Evan Lazerowitz and Aaron Pomeroy led the Cooley team.

The exclusive collaboration and license agreement granted Pierre Fabre a royalty-bearing license to develop and commercialize STX-721 and STX-241, two next-generation mutant epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibitors for patients with EGFR-mutant non-small cell lung cancer. Scorpion will lead clinical development of STX-721, and Pierre Fabre will lead clinical development of STX-241. Scorpion will retain commercialization rights to STX-721 and STX-241 in the US, Canada and Japan, while Pierre Fabre will be responsible for commercialization activities in all other territories – with a focus on Europe and China.

Under the terms of the agreement, Scorpion will receive a combined $65 million from an upfront payment and achievement of near-term milestones – and will be eligible to receive up to a total of $553 million in potential milestone payments. In addition, Pierre Fabre will pay Scorpion tiered percentage royalties on a licensed product-by-licensed product basis, ranging from mid-single to mid-teens based on annual net sales of each licensed product in territories excluding the US, Canada and Japan. Scorpion will pay Pierre Fabre tiered percentage royalties based on a licensed product-by-licensed product basis, ranging from low-single to low-double digits on annual net sales of each licensed product in the US. The companies will share global development expenses based on a pre-specified cost-sharing arrangement.

Read more

Cooley advised CinCor Pharma, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, on its definitive agreement to be acquired by AstraZeneca. M&A partners Rama Padmanabhan and Rowook Park and corporate partners Div Gupta and Sarah Sellers led the Cooley team.

Cooley advised Scorpion Therapeutics in its collaboration agreement with AstraZeneca to discover, develop and commercialize precision medicines against previously hard-to-target cancer proteins, with the potential to transform oncology treatment.

Under the terms of the collaboration agreement, Scorpion will receive an upfront cash payment of $75 million and is eligible to receive additional success-based payments in the form of option fees and milestone payments, as well as tiered royalties on net sales ranging from mid-single digit to low-double digits. In the event Scorpion opts into co-developing and co-promoting a nominated program, Scorpion will participate in the operating costs and be entitled to a proportionate share of the economics in the US, subject to certain adjustments.

Cooley advised Nykode Therapeutics in its license and collaboration agreement with Regeneron for the discovery, development and commercialization of potential new vaccines for cancer and infectious diseases. 

Under the terms of the agreement, Nykode Therapeutics will receive a $30 million upfront payment and a $20 million equity investment at a premium of 20% on a 30-day volume weighted average price of the Nykode Therapeutics share for the last 30 trading days before the effective date of the agreement. Additionally, Nykode Therapeutics will potentially be eligible to receive more than $875 million in milestone payments, plus high single-digit to low double-digit tiered royalties on sales of commercialized products arising from the collaboration, bringing the total potential value of the agreement to more than $925 million, plus royalties.

Lawyers Ken Krisko, Christophe Beauduin, John Forrest, Marya Postner and Hajra Nashin led the Cooley team advising Nykode.