Legend Biotech Corporation (NASDAQ:LEGN) highlighted an exclusive license agreement struck with Novartis AG (ADR) (NYSE:NVS) worth up to $1.11 billion as it released third-quarter results.
Under the agreement, its Legend Biotech Ireland subsidiary has granted Novartis the rights to develop, manufacture and commercialize its CAR-T cell therapy candidate LB2102 and other potential chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapies selectively targeting Delta-like ligand 3 (DLL3).
The company will receive an upfront payment of $100 million when the transaction closes and up to $1.01 billion in milestone payments, as well as tiered royalties on net sales.
“The out-license agreement with Novartis affirms that our next-generation therapy, LB2102, has the potential to be a differentiated treatment for eligible patients with small cell lung cancer,” Legend Biotech CEO Ying Huang commented in a statement.
“We also remain committed to meeting the demand for CARVYKTI, in collaboration with Janssen, and have progressively increased manufacturing capacity, which has led to an incremental increase in sales.”
For the three months to September 30, 2023, the company earned license revenue of $20.1 million compared to no license revenue for the comparative period a year earlier. The increase was due to the achievement of a milestone under its collaboration and license agreement with Janssen Biotech.
Collaboration revenue amounted to $75.9 million, compared to $27.3 million in 3Q 2022, due to an increase in revenue generated from sales of its Carvykti drug in connection with the Janssen agreement.
Its net loss per share for the quarter narrowed to $0.17 from $0.26 a year earlier and smaller than analysts’ consensus for a $0.56 loss, according to Zacks Investment Research.
The company’s shares rose 5.3% to $68 ahead of the opening bell on Monday.
Contact the author at stephen.gunnion@proactiveinvestors.com