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Athersys reaches collaborative deal with Japan's Healios KK

Last updated: 09:27 07 Jun 2018 EDT, First published: 09:05 07 Jun 2018 EDT

Scientist
Athersys shares are trading sharply higher in pre-market trade

The U.S. bio-pharma company Athersys (NASDAQ:ATHX) has reached a ground-breaking agreement with Healios KK, a top Japanese drug maker, to broaden its collaboration into new therapies.

Under the deal’s terms, Healios receives a few exclusive licenses. The first is for the commercialization in Japan of Athersys's MultiStem therapy, which treats acute respiratory distress syndrome. Another is for the development and distribution across Japan of MultiStem cells, which are used in combination with iPSC-derived cells to treat certain organs.

In pre-market trade, Athersys shares jumped 12.54% to US$3.14.

Healios also receives an exclusive global license to develop and commercialize MultiStem cells, either as a standalone therapy or in combination with retinal pigmented epithelial cells for certain opthalmological conditions.

Lastly, Healios’s agreement to use Athersys’s technology to supports its organ bud programs to include other transplantation areas has also been expanded.

In return for this list of services, Athersys gets US$20m in license fees as well as milestone payments of as much as US$360mln. On top of this, the Cleveland-based company will rake in tiered double-digit royalties on MultiStem therapies developed for acute respiratory distress syndrome as well as single-digit royalties for other licensed products.

Another perk of the agreement for Healios is that it is being granted a right of first negotiation regarding the exclusive option for a license to develop and commercialize MultiStem therapies across China.

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