Macomics licences macrophage modulator to Ono

Whether Macomics Ltd nor Ono Pharmaceuticals Co Ltd disclosed any financial details about the deal under which Ono has the option to licence an immuno-oncological antibody against a novel macrophage target in cancer. However, according to the agreement, Macomics will identify and characterise antibody candidates against the target of interest. Ono will have an exclusive option to license global rights to the candidates for further development and commercialisation. Macomics will receive an up-front payment – previous deals of ONO ranged from $12m to $20m. Additionally Ono will grant R&D funding, pay success-based milestones, as well as tiered royalties based on global net sales if the programme goes to the market.

Macomics is exploiting large volume human data sets, custom cell models, and proprietary human macrophage genome editing capability to discover novel targets and unlock disease specific target biology.  Tumour-associated macrophagesacrophages (TAMs) exist in different froms either promoting cancer by creating an antiinflammatory tumour microenvironment (M2 TAMs) or enhancing the body’s ability to fight cancer (M1 TAMs). 

A big problem with immune checkpoint blockers is that M2 TAMs block tumour invasion and thus efficacy of this promising approach to attack so-called hot/inflammatory cancers.