Pharma BD Deal Intelligence
AstraZeneca expanded its immuno-oncology collaboration with Innate Pharma on 23 October 2018, obtaining full global oncology rights to monalizumab, a first-in-class anti-NKG2A antibody (NK/CD8 T-cell checkpoint). The multi-part deal comprised: (1) a $100M payment for monalizumab rights with up to $1.275B in total potential payments; (2) $50M upfront for a co-development option on IPH5201 (anti-CD39); and (3) $20M for license options on four preclinical molecules. For commercialized products AstraZeneca books sales and pays Innate double-digit to mid-teen royalties globally, with a 50:50 profit share in Europe. POST-DEAL ARC: A $50M milestone was triggered when the first patient was dosed in the monalizumab Phase 3 lung-cancer program. In August 2022 AstraZeneca discontinued the Phase 3 INTERLINK-1 trial (monalizumab + cetuximab in recurrent/metastatic head-and-neck cancer) after a futility interim analysis missed its pre-defined efficacy threshold. Monalizumab's value now hinges on the pivotal Phase 3 PACIFIC-9 trial (durvalumab + monalizumab or oleclumab in unresectable Stage III NSCLC), whose enrollment is complete with a data readout expected in H2 2026. On the optioned asset, IPH5201 (anti-CD39) reported positive MATISSE Phase 2 interim results at the AACR 2026 plenary (April 2026): pathological complete response of 35.7% in PD-L1>=1% and 50% in PD-L1>=50% resectable NSCLC, supporting continued study.