- BeiGene (NASDAQ:BGNE) and privately held Boston Immune Technologies and Therapeutics (BITT) have entered into an option and license agreement aimed at developing and commercializing BITT’s innovative tumor necrosis factor (TNF) receptor 2 (TNFR2) antagonist antibodies.
- Under the terms of the agreement, BITT will receive an upfront payment and potential near-term milestone payments totaling $16.6M, inclusive of BeiGene's exercise of the option to license following initial proof-of-concept studies.
- The companies plan to conduct Phase 1 clinical trials of BITR2101, BITT’s lead TNFR2 antagonist antibody, including planned combination studies with tislelizumab, BeiGene’s anti-PD-1 antibody.
- TNFR2 is a member of the TNF receptor superfamily that is selectively expressed on many tumor types as a surface oncogene and has been shown to proliferate tumor cell growth.