BOSTON, March 27, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Pyxis Oncology, Inc. (Nasdaq: PYXS), a clinical stage company focused on developing next generation therapeutics to target difficult-to-treat cancers, announced today that it has completed the sale of its rights to royalties from the commercialization of Beovu and another asset to Novartis for a one-time cash payment of $8 million.
As part of Pyxis Oncology’s acquisition of Apexigen, Inc., in August 2023, the Company gained rights to royalties on Beovu and another asset discovered using APXiMAB, Apexigen’s proprietary antibody discovery platform.
Under the agreement with Novartis, Pyxis Oncology will receive an $8 million payment from Novartis. Royalties previously received by Apexigen and Pyxis Oncology will be free from any reclaim rights.
Pyxis Oncology will record the $8 million payment in Q1 2024. Pyxis Oncology retains rights to three other antibodies in development by Apexigen’s licensees, which were also discovered leveraging the APXiMAB platform. Pyxis Oncology believes that it has the potential to earn future payments associated with those programs.
“We are pleased to obtain this meaningful non-dilutive capital, which will support the continued development of our promising lead ADC asset, PYX-201,” said Lara S. Sullivan, M.D., President and CEO of Pyxis Oncology.
About Pyxis Oncology, Inc.
Pyxis Oncology, Inc. is a clinical stage company focused on defeating difficult-to-treat cancers. The company is efficiently building next generation therapeutics that hold the potential for mono and combination therapies. PYX-201, an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) that uniquely targets EDB+FN within the tumor stroma, and PYX-106, a fully human Siglec-15-targeting antibody designed to block suppression of T-cell proliferation and function, are being evaluated in ongoing Phase 1 clinical studies in multiple types of solid tumors. Pyxis Oncology’s therapeutic candidates are designed to directly kill tumor cells and to address the underlying pathologies created by cancer that enable its uncontrollable proliferation and immune evasion. Pyxis Oncology’s ADC and immuno-oncology (IO) programs employ novel and emerging strategies to target a broad range of solid tumors resistant to current standards of care. To learn more, visit www.pyxisoncology.com or follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.
