Prime Highlights
- Antares and Novartis partnered to develop therapies for historically undruggable cancer targets.
- Antares could receive up to $1.8 billion in milestones plus royalties, including a $105 million upfront payment.
Key Facts
- Antares develops first-in-class precision medicines for cancer and serious diseases.
- Novartis will provide global development and commercialization expertise.
Background
Antares Therapeutics has entered into a strategic collaboration with Novartis to discover, develop and commercialize small-molecule therapies aimed at cancer targets that have historically been considered difficult or impossible to treat with existing drugs.
Under the agreement, Antares will receive an upfront payment of $105 million and could earn up to $1.8 billion in additional payments tied to research progress, development milestones, regulatory approvals and commercial performance. The company will also be eligible for tiered royalties on global sales of any approved products.
Under the terms of the agreement, Antares will manage the research efforts and employ its proprietary drug discovery technology to discover drugs for a few difficult oncology targets. Novartis will retain the right to further develop certain projects in the later phases of development and commercialization.
This partnership is a result of the combination of Antares’ strengths in covalent drug discovery, chemical proteomics, computational chemistry, and machine learning with the oncology research and development strength of Novartis. Both companies aim to accelerate the creation of first-in-class precision medicines for patients with serious diseases.
Antares said the agreement supports its strategy of using advanced discovery technologies to unlock high-value drug targets that have long been considered beyond the reach of conventional therapies. The company will continue to develop its own pipeline of cancer treatments and other precision medicines alongside the collaboration.
Novartis said the partnership aligns with its efforts to expand innovation in cancer treatment and pursue novel approaches against difficult oncology targets. The company believes the collaboration could help generate a new generation of targeted therapies and improve outcomes for patients.
Antares’ lead precision oncology program is expected to enter clinical trials in 2026, with several additional candidates currently in preclinical development.
