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Agenus (AGEN) Delivering Well on Its Pipeline Candidates

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We issued an updated research report on Agenus Inc. (AGEN - Free Report) on Aug 14.

Agenus has collaboration agreements with a number of companies, which not only provide it with funds in the form of upfront and milestone payments and future royalties, but also validate the company’s proprietary product platform.

Agenus has formed collaborations with Merck (MRK - Free Report) and Incyte (INCY - Free Report) to discover and develop multiple checkpoint antibodies. The company also delivered on these partnership commitments, with two programs in the clinic this year and a third expected before the end of the year, each triggering a cash milestone.

In 2017, the company also launched a combination study of CTLA-4 targeting antibody- AGEN-1884 and its own PD-1 targeting antibody -AGEN-2034 in second line cervical cancer. This combo regimen assessment may also support a BLA filing as soon as 2020. The company shifted its strategy for first approval from first line non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) to second line cervical cancer. The reasons for the strategy shift includes increasingly crowded lung cancer opportunities and Merck’s recent data with Keytruda in combination with chemotherapy in first-line non-small cell lung cancer, which has set the bar higher for any future approvals.

Agenus is developing Prophage vaccine for glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) in patients who have been newly diagnosed as well as those with recurrent disease. Although the market for glioblastoma (GBM) treatment holds great potential, it is heavily competitive given the presence of drugs like Roche’s (RHHBY - Free Report) Avastin and Eisai/Arbor’s Gliadel Wafer.

The company filed three investigational new drugs (INDs) in 2018 and three additional INDs will be filed by the end of the year.

However, Agenus has no approved product in its portfolio, yet. With only a few candidates in mid-stages of development including Prophage Series vaccine, the company is still a few years away from bringing a product to market. Any hiccup in the development process of these candidates may weigh heavily on the stock.

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