Yahoo Finance Prothena (PRTA), Bristol Myers Tie Up for Second Neuro Candidate
Prothena Corporation plc PRTA announced that Bristol Myers BMY has in-licensed exclusive global rights to PRX019, a potential treatment option for certain neurodegenerative diseases. PRX019 is the second candidate that has been in-licensed by Bristol Myers under its existing collaboration agreement with PRTA.
Prothena anticipates initiating an early-stage study of the candidate by the end of 2024.
Bristol Myers’ decision to exercise its option for the exclusive global license for PRX019 follows the FDA clearance of Prothena’s investigational new drug application for the candidate in December 2023. For the time being, PRX019 has an undisclosed target.
The collaboration agreement allows BMY to expand its neurodegenerative disease pipeline.
Priothena’s shares gained 2.4% in the after-market hours on May 28, as the investors cheered the encouraging news. Year to date, the stock has plunged 45.1% compared with the industry’s 5.7% decline.
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Per the terms of the licensing agreement, Prothena will receive an upfront payment of $80 million from Bristol Myers for exclusive global rights to PRX019.
Furthermore, PRTA also remains eligible to receive additional development, regulatory and sales-based milestone payments of up to $617.5 million from Bristol Myers, as well as tiered royalties on net sales, subject to approval and launch.
The original collaboration agreement was signed between Prothena and Celgene (now acquired by Bristol Myers) in 2018. Per the terms of the agreement, PRTA granted BMY an option to acquire exclusive U.S./global rights for the former’s programs to develop and commercialize antibodies targeting tau, TDP-43 and an undisclosed target.
The phase I studies for such candidates, in-licensed by Bristol Myers, will be funded by Prothena. Based on the results therefrom, BMY will have the option to assume responsibility for development activities and all regulatory, manufacturing and commercialization activities.
The first candidate in-licensed by Bristol Myers, under this collaboration agreement, is BMS-986446 (formerly PRX005), a best-in-class anti-tau, MTBR-specific antibody, which is currently under development for the potential treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease (AD).
Prothena also has ongoing collaboration agreements with other pharma bigwigs like Roche and Novo Nordisk for the development of other candidates for different indications.
PRTA’s lead candidate among its wholly-owned programs is PRX012, an investigational antibody that targets amyloid beta, which is currently undergoing early-stage development for the treatment of AD.
Earlier this year, Prothena announced top-line phase I data from the single-ascending dose study and the initial multiple-ascending dose cohort that support once-monthly subcutaneous treatment and dose escalation.
Prothena Corporation plc Price and Consensus
Prothena Corporation plc price-consensus-chart | Prothena Corporation plc Quote
Zacks Rank and Stocks to Consider
Prothena currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Some better-ranked stocks from the drug/biotech industry are ALX Oncology Holdings ALXO and Annovis Bio ANVS, each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
In the past 30 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for ALX Oncology’s 2024 loss per share has narrowed from $3.33 to $2.89. During the same period, the consensus estimate for 2025 loss per share has narrowed from $2.85 to $2.73. Year to date, shares of ALXO have lost 15.6%.
ALX Oncology beat estimates in two of the trailing four quarters and missed twice, delivering an average negative surprise of 8.83%.
In the past 30 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for Annovis’ 2024 loss per share has narrowed from $3.35 to $2.46. During the same period, the consensus estimate for 2025 loss per share has narrowed from $2.82 to $1.95. Year to date, shares of ANVS have plunged 64.4%.
ANVS beat estimates in three of the trailing four quarters and missed once, delivering an average negative surprise of 1.39%.
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