Gritstone bio, Genevant Sciences announce option, license agreement

Gritstone bio and Genevant Sciences announced an agreement pursuant to which Gritstone bio will have a multi-year option for a non-exclusive license under Genevant’s LNP technology on a pathogen-by-pathogen basis to develop and commercialize self-amplifying RNA vaccines. “Our previous collaborations with Genevant have demonstrated the powerful potential of combining the strengths of two technology leaders, and we are pleased to expand our relationship with this new agreement,” said Andrew Allen, M.D., Ph.D., Co-founder, President and Chief Executive Officer of Gritstone bio. “With the established complementarity between our samRNA technology and Genevant’s LNP technology, evident in clinical datasets in both oncology and infectious disease, we are now even better positioned to capitalize on the emergence of RNA vaccines and therapeutics to address a broader array of infectious diseases.” Under the terms of the agreement, Genevant is eligible to receive from Gritstone option maintenance and exercise fees in the single digit millions, up to $136M in contingent milestone payments per product, subject to increase for multi-pathogen products and in other specified circumstances, and royalties ranging from the mid to high single digits on future product sales.