Moderna and CytomX Announce mRNA Partnership

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The collaboration will see Moderna and CytomX work together to develop mRNA-based conditionally activated therapeutics.

Moderna and CytomX, a clinical-stage oncology-focused biopharmaceutical company, announced a strategic collaboration to develop investigational messenger RNA (mRNA)-based conditionally activated therapeutics on Jan. 5, 2022. CytomX will receive $35 million in upfront payment from Moderna, with an additional $1.2 billion, plus tiered royalties contingent on achieving various development, regulatory, and commercial milestones.

According to a company press release, the collaboration will combine Moderna’s mRNA technologies with CytomX’s therapeutic platform Probody. Probody is designed to enable local activation of proteins in diseased tissue while remaining masked in systemic circulations, allowing for the encoding of potent masked biologics via mRNA. Both companies will collaborate on discovery and preclinical development, while Moderna will lead clinical development and commercialization of therapeutics resulting from the agreement.

"We are excited to enter this collaboration with CytomX to combine our technologies and to potentially bring mRNA-based conditionally activated therapies to patients," said Rose Loughlin, senior vice-president, Research and Early Development, Moderna, in the release. "Moderna and CytomX have a shared vision of investing at the intersection of biology and technology to transform the lives of patients, and this collaboration will expand applications of our growing therapeutics pipeline."

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"At CytomX, we have always embraced bold science in building the potential of Probody therapeutics, and we are thrilled to be joining forces with Moderna in oncology as well as expanding our technology to areas outside oncology where we believe there is great potential," said Sean McCarthy, CEO and chairman, CytomX, in the release. "Moderna's global impact has shown the enormous power of mRNA and we look forward to working closely with our newest collaborator to bring novel, mRNA-based conditionally activated therapeutics to patients with unmet medical needs."

Source: Moderna