The partnership dates back to 2015, when Incyte paid $60 million upfront for access to four checkpoint programs, including TIM-3, LAG-3, OX40 and GITR.
Incyte has formally terminated its yearslong partnership with Agenus, giving the Massachusetts-based biotech all rights over certain immuno-oncology programs.
The decision, which Agenus announced in an SEC filing on Tuesday, is part of what Incyte terms a “strategic portfolio reprioritization.” Agenus will again have full rights over its LAG-3 and TIM-3 programs, for which the biotech will weigh its options moving forward, “including internal development and potential new partnerships.”
Incyte and Agenus first inked their partnership in January 2015. For $60 million upfront—$25 million in cash and $35 million in equity investments—Incyte bought access to Agenus’ proprietary Retrocyte Display platform, as well as checkpoint modulator inhibitor programs targeting TIM-3, LAG-3, GITR and OX40.
The agreement, which included up to $350 million in various milestones across the four initial programs, also provided both parties the option to jointly nominate and advance additional targets. Incyte upped its investment in Agenus in February 2017, taking full charge of the GITR and OX40 programs, with Agenus being entitled to royalties.
Over the years, however, Incyte has been slowly been distancing itself from the biotech. In its SEC filing on Tuesday, Agenus revealed that Incyte had axed the OX40 program effective October 2023, followed by the termination of GITR and another undisclosed asset in May 2024. Incyte then announced the discontinuation of LAG-3 and TIM-3 in July 2024.
The formal termination of the partnership took effect Feb. 4.
Incyte earlier this week released its fourth-quarter and full-year earnings report, touting a 16% year-on-year increase in quarterly revenue to $1.18 billion. Its Q4 performance surpassed analyst expectations, which pegged earnings at $1.14 billion. Leading its sales figures was the oral kinase inhibitor Jakafi, which brought in $773 million in the quarter, topping the consensus of $747 million.
Opzelura, which shares an active ingredient with Jakafi but is formulated as a cream, made $162 million in the quarter, coming ahead of the expected $151 million.
Incyte is looking at several key catalysts in 2025, chief of which is the Phase III readout for its small molecule JAK1 blocker povorcitinib in hidradenitis suppurativa. Pivotal data from that trial are expected in the first half of this year.
“This will be the first pivotal readout for povo, which many investors view as one potential avenue to replace revenues after Jakafi [loss of exclusivity],” which is expected in December 2028, analysts at Truist Securities wrote in a Feb. 10 note.
