GT Biopharma and CDMO Cytovance have reached an agreement for license rights to use certain bacterial and mammalian cell lines and for GMP manufacturing services performed to date regarding the Company's TriKE™ product candidates.
Under the terms of the partnership agreement entered into between the companies, Cytovance is the exclusive GMP manufacture for three of the Company's TriKE™ therapeutic product candidates. Cytovance will manufacture TriKE™ in accordance with GMP using Cytovance's proprietary Keystone® bacterial or mammalian expression systems. Subject to the completion of certain milestones by Cytovance, GT Biopharma has the option to pay Cytovance up to $6 million for licenses to use certain of Cytovance's bacterial and mammalian cell lines and for manufacturing services performed in either cash or in shares of the Company's common stock valued at the time Cytovance achieves each of several milestones over the next 12 months.
GT Biopharma issued $1 million of GT Biopharma restricted common stock (GTBP) to Cytovance. The number of shares of GT Biopharma restricted common stock was based on the closing price ($0.31) of the Company's common stock on December 15, 2020.
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"We are pleased to have the opportunity to work with Cytovance and their experienced team for the GMP manufacture of our TriKE product candidates. Achievement of the subject Milestone was achieved on-time and on-budget by Cytovance and we believe our partnership and their acceptance of our company stock illustrates their commitment to us and this partnership for the long term," Anthony Cataldo, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of GT Biopharma said.
GTB-3550 is the Company's first TriKE™ product candidate being initially developed for the treatment AML. GTB-3550 is a single-chain, tri-specific scFv recombinant fusion protein conjugate composed of the variable regions of the heavy and light chains of anti-CD16 and anti-CD33 antibodies and a modified form of IL-15. The natural killer (NK) cell stimulating cytokine human IL-15 portion of the molecule provides a self-sustaining signal that activates NK cells and enhances their ability to kill. We intend to study GTB-3550 in CD33 positive leukemias such as acute myeloid leukemia (AML), myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), and other CD33+ hematopoietic malignancies.