Caris Life Sciences and Xencor Expand Target Discovery Collaboration for Novel XmAb® Antibody Drug Candidates

Rhea-AI Summary

Caris Life Sciences and Xencor, Inc. have expanded their collaboration to research and develop novel XmAb bispecific antibodies aimed at treating cancer. This agreement builds on the initial partnership from August 2022 and will increase the number of targets and cancer types that Caris will investigate using its Caris Discovery platform. Xencor gains exclusive global rights to develop products from up to three discovered targets. Caris will receive an upfront payment and could earn up to $187 million in milestone payments, along with royalties on future sales.

Positive

• Expanded collaboration increases research targets and cancer types.
• Caris eligible for up to $187 million in milestone payments.
• Exclusive worldwide rights to develop products for Xencor.

Negative

• None.

IRVING, Texas and MONROVIA, Calif., Jan. 5, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Caris Life Sciences^®(Caris), the leading molecular science and technology company actively developing and delivering innovative solutions to revolutionize healthcare, and Xencor, Inc. (NASDAQ: XNCR), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing engineered antibodies and cytokines for the treatment of cancer and autoimmune diseases, today announced an expansion of their collaboration to research, develop and commercialize novel XmAb® bispecific and multi-specific antibodies directed against novel targets, identified and proposed by Caris, for the treatment of patients with cancer.

Building upon the initial August 2022 agreement, this expanded collaboration will increase the number of targets and cancer types that Caris will interrogate with its proprietary, multi-omics discovery engine platform, Caris Discovery. Novel targets and their accompanying validation packages will serve as the substrate for drug candidate development through Xencor's XmAb platform.

"Xencor has an impressive track record of advancing drug development programs from early discovery through to the clinic, and we are excited to bring forward additional novel targets for their team," said David Spetzler, M.S., Ph.D., MBA, President and Chief Scientific Officer of Caris Life Sciences. "The aggregate strength of Caris' platform permits the unlocking of otherwise inaccessible targets, and we look forward to realizing our shared goal of bringing novel antibody-directed therapies to patients with cancer."

"We are committed to leveraging our XmAb bispecific antibody platforms, building an internal portfolio of novel drug candidates and advancing potentially transformational treatment options for patients," said John Desjarlais, Ph.D., Senior Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer of Xencor. "Our new agreement with Caris expands a progressing collaboration centered on their innovative target discovery and precision oncology capabilities."

Under the terms of the new agreement, Xencor will receive exclusive worldwide rights to research, develop and commercialize products directed to up to three targets discovered under the collaboration. Caris will receive an upfront payment and will be eligible to receive up to $187 million in development and commercial milestone payments. Caris will also be eligible to receive royalties on net sales of commercialized products resulting from the collaboration as well as future rights for molecular profiling and companion diagnostics.

Caris Discovery leverages the aggregate strength of Caris' unmatched platform, combining insights generated from the molecular interrogation of primary patient tissues using ADAPT™, the company's exclusive aptamer-based proteomic profiling platform; a robust validation pipeline; and the company's proprietary real-world data platform that integrates Caris' extensive catalog of molecular and clinical data. Learn more about Caris Discovery here.

XmAb^® is a registered trademark of Xencor, Inc.

About Caris Life Sciences

Caris Life Sciences® (Caris) is the leading molecular science and technology company actively developing and delivering innovative solutions to revolutionize healthcare and improve patient outcomes. Through comprehensive molecular profiling (Whole Exome and Whole Transcriptome Sequencing) and the application of advanced artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning algorithms, Caris has created the large-scale clinico-genomic database and cognitive computing needed to analyze and unravel the molecular complexity of disease. This information provides an unmatched resource and the ideal path forward to conduct the basic, fundamental research to accelerate discovery for detection, diagnosis, monitoring, therapy selection and drug development to improve the human condition.

With a primary focus on cancer, Caris' suite of market-leading molecular profiling offerings assesses DNA, RNA and proteins to reveal a molecular blueprint that helps patients, physicians and researchers better detect, diagnose and treat patients. Caris' latest advancement is a blood-based, circulating nucleic acids sequencing (cNAS) assay that combines comprehensive molecular analysis (Whole Exome and Whole Transcriptome Sequencing from blood) and serial monitoring – making it the most powerful liquid biopsy assay ever developed.

Headquartered in Irving, Texas, Caris has offices in Phoenix, New York, Denver, Tokyo, Japan and Basel, Switzerland. Caris provides services throughout the U.S., Europe, Asia and other international markets. To learn more, please visit CarisLifeSciences.com or follow us on LinkedIn.

About Xencor

Xencor is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing engineered antibodies and cytokines for the treatment of patients with cancer and autoimmune diseases. More than 20 candidates engineered with Xencor's XmAb^® technology are in clinical development, and three XmAb medicines are marketed by partners. Xencor's XmAb engineering technology enables small changes to a protein's structure that result in new mechanisms of therapeutic action. For more information, please visit www.xencor.com.

Xencor Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements contained in this press release may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements include statements that are not purely statements of historical fact, and can generally be identified by the use of words such as "potential," "can," "will," "plan," "may," "could," "would," "expect," "anticipate," "seek," "look forward," "believe," "committed," "investigational," and similar terms, or by express or implied discussions relating to the discovery of novel targets for product candidates, the research, development or commercialization of products or product candidates, the quotations from Xencor's senior vice president and chief scientific officer and Caris Life Sciences' president and chief scientific officer, and other statements that are not purely statements of historical fact. Such statements are made on the basis of the current beliefs, expectations, and assumptions of the management of Xencor and are subject to significant known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance or achievements and the timing of events to be materially different from those implied by such statements, and therefore these statements should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results. Such risks include, without limitation, the risks associated with the process of discovering, developing, manufacturing and commercializing drugs that are safe and effective for use as human therapeutics and other risks, including the ability of publicly disclosed preliminary clinical trial data to support continued clinical development and regulatory approval for specific treatments, in each case as described in Xencor's public securities filings. For a discussion of these and other factors, please refer to Xencor's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021 as well as Xencor's subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. This caution is made under the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended to date. All forward-looking statements are qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement and Xencor undertakes no obligation to revise or update this press release to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof, except as required by law.

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Caris Life Sciences Media Contact:
Lisa Burgner
CorpComm@carisls.com 
214.294.5606

Xencor Investor Contact:
Charles Liles
cliles@xencor.com
626.737.8118

Xencor Media Contact:
Jason I. Spark
Canale Communications
jason@canalecomm.com
619.849.6005

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SOURCE Caris Life Sciences

FAQ

What is the partnership between Caris Life Sciences and Xencor about?

The partnership focuses on the research and development of novel XmAb bispecific antibodies for cancer treatment.

What financial benefits will Caris Life Sciences receive from the collaboration?

Caris will receive an upfront payment and could earn up to $187 million in milestone payments, along with royalties on net sales from commercialized products.

When was the initial agreement between Caris and Xencor established?

The initial agreement was established in August 2022.

What is the significance of the Caris Discovery platform in this collaboration?

The Caris Discovery platform enables the investigation of multiple targets and cancer types, enhancing drug candidate development.

What can Xencor do under the new agreement?

Xencor has exclusive worldwide rights to research, develop, and commercialize products directed to up to three targets discovered in the collaboration.