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Regeneron & Parabilis Sign Oncology Collaboration Worth Up to $2.2B
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Key Takeaways
Regeneron partnered with Parabilis to develop Antibody-Helicon Conjugates for oncology.
REGN will pay Parabilis $125M upfront and equity financing support under the collaboration.
Regeneron shares fell 10% after a late-stage melanoma study missed its primary endpoint.
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (REGN - Free Report) has entered into a strategic research collaboration with clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company Parabilis Medicines to develop multiple therapeutic candidates.
The partnership centers on Parabilis’ Helicon peptide platform, with a primary focus on Antibody-Helicon Conjugates (AHCs) — an emerging therapeutic class aimed at addressing historically “undruggable” intracellular targets.
The collaboration is aimed at strengthening REGN’s next-generation oncology pipeline.
More on REGN’s Multibillion-Dollar Deal With Parabilis
Helicons are engineered, cell-penetrating alpha-helical peptides designed to bind intracellular proteins and flat protein surfaces that are typically inaccessible to conventional small molecules. The partnership will explore the use of Helicons both as standalone therapies and as payloads in AHCs.
Regeneron highlighted the collaboration as part of its strategy to expand its pipeline through differentiated technologies.
The company plans to combine Helicons with its VelocImmune-derived antibodies to selectively deliver these peptide payloads into target cells, potentially creating a new class of precision therapeutics across multiple disease areas.
Unlike traditional antibody-drug conjugates, which deliver cytotoxic agents to kill target cells, the envisioned AHCs would use antibody-guided delivery to transport Helicon payloads that can modulate intracellular proteins, including targets long considered beyond the reach of existing drug modalities.
Per the financial terms of the agreement, Parabilis will receive $125 million from Regeneron, including a $50 million upfront payment and a $75 million commitment tied to Parabilis’ next equity financing, subject to certain conditions.
The biotech is also eligible for development, regulatory and commercial milestone payments, along with tiered royalties reaching the low double digits on future net sales. With five initial targets covered under the collaboration, Parabilis could receive up to approximately $2.2 billion in total milestone payments, with potential additional targets through future option payments from Regeneron.
The companies will jointly work on the discovery of new Helicons and AHCs, while Regeneron will lead subsequent development, manufacturing and global commercialization efforts.
REGN’s Efforts to Diversify Portfolio
Regeneron is also actively strengthening its oncology portfolio to further diversify its revenue base. The company’s oncology franchise recently gained momentum following the label expansion of Libtayo, helping offset headwinds in the ophthalmology segment.
However, Regeneron recently announced the late-stage study evaluating the combination of fianlimab and cemiplimab in first-line unresectable locally advanced or metastatic melanoma failed to meet the primary endpoint of statistically significant improvement in progression-free survival (PFS) versus Merck’s (MRK - Free Report) Keytruda (pembrolizumab) monotherapy.
Despite missing statistical significance, the high-dose fianlimab combination demonstrated a numerical improvement in median PFS of 11.5 months compared with 6.4 months for pembrolizumab alone, translating to a 5.1-month benefit. No new safety concerns were identified for the combination therapy.
The results represent a setback for Regeneron’s efforts to strengthen its position in the competitive melanoma immunotherapy market, where established PD-1/LAG-3 combinations such as Bristol Myers Squibb (BMY - Free Report) Opdualag have already gained traction.
Regeneron continues to advance the program through an ongoing phase III head-to-head trial comparing the high-dose fianlimab and cemiplimab combination directly against Opdualag in first-line advanced melanoma.
Shares of the company fell 9.8% on news of the failure of this late-stage study.
Regeneron’s shares have lost 18.4% so far this year compared with the industry’s decline of 2.1%.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Keytruda is approved for several types of cancer and alone accounts for around 50% of MRK’s pharmaceutical sales. Merck is currently working on different strategies to drive the long-term growth of Keytruda.
BMY’s Opdualag is a combination of nivolumab and relatlimab. The drug is indicated for treating adults who have a type of skin cancer called melanoma that has spread or cannot be removed by surgery (advanced melanoma) and children who are 12 years of age and older, who have melanoma that has spread or cannot be removed by surgery (advanced melanoma).
Sales of Opdualag have been robust as the drug continues to serve as a standard of care in first-line melanoma.
Meanwhile, REGN’s lead drug Eylea is approved for various ophthalmology indications (neovascular age-related macular degeneration, diabetic macular edema and macular edema, among others). Regeneron co-developed Eylea with the Bayer AG (BAYRY - Free Report) .
Eylea sales are under pressure amid intensifying competition from Roche’s Vabysmo, which has seen strong and rapid uptake. Vabysmo was designed to inhibit both Ang-2 and VEGF-A pathways, offering a differentiated mechanism that has resonated with physicians.
Regeneron records net product sales of Eylea and Eylea HD in the United States and Bayer does the same outside the country.
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Regeneron & Parabilis Sign Oncology Collaboration Worth Up to $2.2B
Key Takeaways
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (REGN - Free Report) has entered into a strategic research collaboration with clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company Parabilis Medicines to develop multiple therapeutic candidates.
The partnership centers on Parabilis’ Helicon peptide platform, with a primary focus on Antibody-Helicon Conjugates (AHCs) — an emerging therapeutic class aimed at addressing historically “undruggable” intracellular targets.
The collaboration is aimed at strengthening REGN’s next-generation oncology pipeline.
More on REGN’s Multibillion-Dollar Deal With Parabilis
Helicons are engineered, cell-penetrating alpha-helical peptides designed to bind intracellular proteins and flat protein surfaces that are typically inaccessible to conventional small molecules. The partnership will explore the use of Helicons both as standalone therapies and as payloads in AHCs.
Regeneron highlighted the collaboration as part of its strategy to expand its pipeline through differentiated technologies.
The company plans to combine Helicons with its VelocImmune-derived antibodies to selectively deliver these peptide payloads into target cells, potentially creating a new class of precision therapeutics across multiple disease areas.
Unlike traditional antibody-drug conjugates, which deliver cytotoxic agents to kill target cells, the envisioned AHCs would use antibody-guided delivery to transport Helicon payloads that can modulate intracellular proteins, including targets long considered beyond the reach of existing drug modalities.
Per the financial terms of the agreement, Parabilis will receive $125 million from Regeneron, including a $50 million upfront payment and a $75 million commitment tied to Parabilis’ next equity financing, subject to certain conditions.
The biotech is also eligible for development, regulatory and commercial milestone payments, along with tiered royalties reaching the low double digits on future net sales. With five initial targets covered under the collaboration, Parabilis could receive up to approximately $2.2 billion in total milestone payments, with potential additional targets through future option payments from Regeneron.
The companies will jointly work on the discovery of new Helicons and AHCs, while Regeneron will lead subsequent development, manufacturing and global commercialization efforts.
REGN’s Efforts to Diversify Portfolio
Regeneron is also actively strengthening its oncology portfolio to further diversify its revenue base. The company’s oncology franchise recently gained momentum following the label expansion of Libtayo, helping offset headwinds in the ophthalmology segment.
However, Regeneron recently announced the late-stage study evaluating the combination of fianlimab and cemiplimab in first-line unresectable locally advanced or metastatic melanoma failed to meet the primary endpoint of statistically significant improvement in progression-free survival (PFS) versus Merck’s (MRK - Free Report) Keytruda (pembrolizumab) monotherapy.
Despite missing statistical significance, the high-dose fianlimab combination demonstrated a numerical improvement in median PFS of 11.5 months compared with 6.4 months for pembrolizumab alone, translating to a 5.1-month benefit. No new safety concerns were identified for the combination therapy.
The results represent a setback for Regeneron’s efforts to strengthen its position in the competitive melanoma immunotherapy market, where established PD-1/LAG-3 combinations such as Bristol Myers Squibb (BMY - Free Report) Opdualag have already gained traction.
Regeneron continues to advance the program through an ongoing phase III head-to-head trial comparing the high-dose fianlimab and cemiplimab combination directly against Opdualag in first-line advanced melanoma.
Shares of the company fell 9.8% on news of the failure of this late-stage study.
Regeneron’s shares have lost 18.4% so far this year compared with the industry’s decline of 2.1%.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Keytruda is approved for several types of cancer and alone accounts for around 50% of MRK’s pharmaceutical sales. Merck is currently working on different strategies to drive the long-term growth of Keytruda.
BMY’s Opdualag is a combination of nivolumab and relatlimab. The drug is indicated for treating adults who have a type of skin cancer called melanoma that has spread or cannot be removed by surgery (advanced melanoma) and children who are 12 years of age and older, who have melanoma that has spread or cannot be removed by surgery (advanced melanoma).
Sales of Opdualag have been robust as the drug continues to serve as a standard of care in first-line melanoma.
Meanwhile, REGN’s lead drug Eylea is approved for various ophthalmology indications (neovascular age-related macular degeneration, diabetic macular edema and macular edema, among others). Regeneron co-developed Eylea with the Bayer AG (BAYRY - Free Report) .
Eylea sales are under pressure amid intensifying competition from Roche’s Vabysmo, which has seen strong and rapid uptake. Vabysmo was designed to inhibit both Ang-2 and VEGF-A pathways, offering a differentiated mechanism that has resonated with physicians.
Regeneron records net product sales of Eylea and Eylea HD in the United States and Bayer does the same outside the country.
REGN’s Zacks Rank
Regeneron currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.