Astellas Subsidiary Xyphos and GO Therapeutics Ink Deal Worth More Than $763 Million

Astellas Pharma subsidiary Xyphos Biosciences and GO Therapeutics have entered into a research and licensing agreement to develop novel antibodies for immuno-oncology therapies.

Under the agreement, the companies will select two novel antibodies using GO Therapeutics’ platform-based approach for targeting cancer-specific glycoproteins.

Xyphos will bring its CAR T-cell know-how to the collaboration. The company’s proprietary convertibleCAR technology creates cell therapies that can mobilize immune cells to find and destroy target tumor cells.

Xyphos will pay GO Therapeutics $20.5 million upfront in cash, plus potential milestone payments of up to $763 million.