Celloram Inc., a biotech startup that develops novel medicines for cancer and immune disorders, entered into a licensing agreement with French biotech GENFIT SA to advance Celloram’s first-in-class inflammasome inhibitor, CLM-022. The agreement grants GENFIT exclusive global rights to develop CLM-022 in liver disease indications.

GENFIT adds to its portfolio of drug candidates for liver disease and gains access to Celloram’s scientists and medicinal chemistry expertise to help synthesize and validate CLM-022 as it advances to IND for future clinical trials.

Celloram Inc. is eligible to receive up to €160 million in clinical, regulatory, and commercial milestone payments.

In a joint statement, Celloram co-founders, John Letterio and Seong-Jin Kim, said, “Our vision at Celloram Inc. has always been driven by a passion for revolutionizing patient care by creating safer, more effective therapies. With this licensing agreement, we are one step closer to realizing Celloram’s vision and we are grateful for the opportunity to partner with GENFIT.”

“This exclusive licensing agreement with GENFIT aims to expand our inflammasome inhibitor platform into liver disease indications for the first time,” said Tej Pareek, Celloram CEO. “We believe that GENFIT has the potential to rapidly advance the development of this class of inhibitors, ultimately bringing therapies and hope to a large population of patients who desperately need life-saving treatments. We are thrilled to work alongside GENFIT, a leading biopharmaceutical company, to bring this potential life-saving treatment to patients worldwide.”