Kuros Biosciences: Completion of the acquisition of Checkmate Pharmaceuticals by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals triggers a $5 million milestone payment

Kuros Biosciences AG / Key word(s): Miscellaneous

02-Jun-2022 / 07:00 CET/CEST
Release of an ad hoc announcement pursuant to Art. 53 LR
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

Ad-hoc announcement pursuant to Article 53 of the SIX listing rules

• $2.5 million of milestone to be paid to XOMA Corporation under royalty agreement

Schlieren (Zurich), Switzerland, June 2, 2022 –

Kuros Biosciences AG (“Kuros” or the “Company”), a leader in next generation bone graft technologies, notes the completion of the acquisition of Checkmate Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: CMPI) by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: REGN). The completion triggers a $5 million milestone payment under a license agreement entered into by Kuros and Checkmate in 2015.

Under a royalty purchase agreement entered into by Kuros and XOMA Corporation (NASDAQ: XOMA) in 2021, XOMA is entitled to receive 50% of the milestone payment paid to Kuros as a result of a change of control of Checkmate Pharmaceuticals. Therefore, $2.5 million of the $5 million milestone due to Kuros under the 2015 license agreement will be paid to XOMA.

Under the 2015 licensing agreement with Kuros, Checkmate is investigating vidutolimod (CMP-001), an advanced generation Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9) agonist, delivered as a biologic virus-like particle utilizing a CpG-A oligodeoxynucleotide as a key component, across multiple tumor types in combination with several checkpoint inhibitor immunotherapies. Checkmate is conducting multiple clinical trials, including a phase 2 and a phase 2/3 trial in the melanoma indication, which triggered two milestone payments of $2 million and $4 million by Checkmate to Kuros in 2021. 
In 2021, XOMA purchased a proportion of the potential future pre-commercial milestone payments and all the potential royalties due under the 2015 license agreement between Kuros and Checkmate Pharmaceuticals under a royalty purchase agreement. Under this royalty purchase agreement, Kuros received an upfront payment of $7 million, retained the potential to receive up to $24 million in pre-commercial milestones from Checkmate, and is eligible to receive up to $142.5 million in sales milestones from XOMA.

Joost de Bruijn, Chief Executive Officer of Kuros, commented: “I would like to congratulate Checkmate on their acquisition by Regeneron and we look forward to Regeneron progressing the licensed technology to market approval.”

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About Kuros Biosciences AG
Kuros Biosciences is a fast-growing leader in the development of spinal fusion biologics that ease the burden of back pain. With locations in the United States, Switzerland and the Netherlands, the company is listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange. The company’s first commercial product, MagnetOs, is a unique synthetic bone graft that has already been used successfully across three continents and in some 4,000 spinal fusion surgeries. The next candidate in the Kuros pipeline is Fibrin-PTH – the first drug-biologic combination for interbody spinal fusions, currently undergoing a Phase 2 clinical trial in the US. For more information on the company, its products and pipeline, visit kurosbio.com.

Forward Looking Statements
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