Astellas and Immunomic Therapeutics, Inc. have entered into an exclusive license agreement for Japan to develop and commercialize JRC2-LAMP-vax, Immunomic's vaccine to treat allergies induced by Japanese red cedar pollen.
 
Astellas is responsible for developing and commercializing JRC2-LAMP-vax in Japan. Immunomic will receive $15 million upfront and as much as $55 million in development and regulatory milestones, as well as royalties on sales. Astellas will fund development costs and has an exclusive option to negotiate a license for additional LAMP-vax DNA vaccines to treat other allergy indications in Japan.
 
"Our Japanese red cedar allergy vaccine therapy, JRC2-LAMP-vax, will provide millions of allergic subjects with a truly novel solution for long-lasting disease treatment," said Dr. William Hearl, president and chief executive officer of Immunomic Therapeutics. "We are very pleased to be partnering with Astellas, a global pharmaceutical leader, to deliver this treatment to market. Throughout our global partnering effort, Astellas has consistently proven to be a proactive, thoughtful and innovative partner that is committed to developing new medicines and technologies."
 
"Immunomic Therapeutics uses a novel vaccine technology, LAMP-vax platform, that will offer the next-generation vaccines for allergy," said Kenji Yasukawa, Ph.D., senior vice president and chief strategy officer at Astellas. "We are very excited to partner with Immunomic Therapeutics and we hope that we will deliver to patients a safe and game-changing therapeutic approach with a short administration period for Japanese red cedar pollinosis, from which almost one-quarter of the population in Japan are suffering."