Navidea Biopharmaceuticals, Inc Enters into Option Agreement to License Parkinson's Disease Imaging Agent
January 25, 2012 at 09:01 pm
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Navidea Biopharmaceuticals Inc. announced that it has entered into an option agreement with Alseres Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Alseres) to license [(123) I]-E-IAFCT Injection, also called Altropane(R), an Iodine-123 radiolabeled imaging agent, being developed as an aid in the diagnosis of Parkinson's disease and movement disorders. The option agreement provides Navidea with exclusive rights for a period of up to six months to perform final due diligence and prepare the documentation necessary to enter into a definitive license agreement for [(123) I]-E-IACFT. Under the terms of the option agreement, Navidea paid Alseres an option fee of $500,000 for the exclusive right to negotiate a definitive license agreement by June 30, 2012. Navidea can extend the option period from June 30, 2012, to July 31, 2012, for an additional $250,000. The option agreement anticipates that Navidea will issue Alseres 400,000 shares of Navidea common stock upon execution of the definitive license agreement. The option also anticipates that the license agreement will provide for contingent milestone payments of up to $3.0 million, $2.75 million of which will principally occur at the time of product registration or upon commercial sales, and the issuance of up to an additional 1.05 million shares of Navidea stock, 950,000 shares of which are issuable at the time of product registration or upon commercial sales. In addition, the license terms outlined in the option agreement anticipate royalties on net sales of the approved product which are consistent with industry-standard terms.
Navidea Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company. The Company is focused on the development and commercialization of precision immunodiagnostic agents and immunotherapeutics. It is developing multiple precision-targeted products based on its Manocept platform to enhance patient care by identifying the sites and pathways of undetected disease. The Companyâs business is focused on two primary types of drug products, such as diagnostic substances, including Tc99m tilmanocept and other diagnostic applications of its Manocept platform, and therapeutic development programs, including therapeutic applications of its Manocept platform. It has developed processes for producing the first four therapeutic Manocept immuno-construct series, the Manocept doxorubicin (MAN-DOX) series, which is designed to specifically target and kill or modify activated CD206+ macrophages by delivering doxorubicin, a Manocept paclitaxel series (MAN-PAC), and a Manocept Bisphosphonate series (MAN-BIS).