Tuesday, November 13, 2012

MannKind Corp. (MNKD) and Colby Pharmaceutical Sign Agreement to Develop and Commercialize Cancer Immunotherapy Products


MannKind is a company that focuses on the discovery, development, and commercialization of therapeutic products for patients with diseases such as diabetes and cancer. The company’s lead product candidate, AFREZZA, is in late stage clinical trials for treatment of adults with both types of diabetes.

The company announced today the signing of an agreement with privately-held Colby Pharmaceutical Company. The license agreement grants Colby exclusive worldwide rights to develop and commercialize disease-specific antigen compounds and intra-lymph node delivery technologies from MannKind’s novel MKC1106 active immunotherapy programs. These programs are currently being developed for the treatment of melanoma, prostate, hematological disorders, and other cancers.

Intra-lymph node injections of cancer vaccine antigens have been shown in animal testing to generate much more potent therapeutic T-cell responses, when compared to cancer vaccine antigen immunizations using traditional intra-muscular or sub-cutaneous injections. In a Phase I human melanoma study of MKC1106-MT, these injections to date have been well tolerated and have generated strong immune responses.

Under the terms of the agreement, Colby will pay Mannkind upfront and milestone payments linked to the development, approval, and commercialization of products. It is believed these payments will be valued in total at approximately $140 million. In addition, MannKind will receive tiered royalties on the sales of the commercialized products.

For additional information about MannKind Corporation and its product candidates, please visit www.mannkindcorp.com

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