Business
Vir Biotechnology Announces Closing of Global Strategic Collaboration with Astellas for the Treatment of Prostate Cancer
- Astellas and Vir Biotechnology to co-develop and co-commercialize VIR-5500 through a sharing of expenses and revenues - Astellas to lead commercialization
About this update from Vir Biotechnology, Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"\n- Astellas and Vir Biotechnology to co-develop and co-commercialize VIR-5500 through a sharing of expenses and revenues\n\n\n- Astellas to lead commercialization of VIR-5500 in the U.S. with Vir Biotechnology retaining option to co-promote, and Astellas obtaining exclusive rights to commercialize VIR-5500 ex-U.S.\n\n\n SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--\nVir Biotechnology, Inc. (Nasdaq: VIR) today announced that its global collaboration and licensing agreement with Astellas announced on February 23, 2026 has closed following expiration of the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976. The collaboration aims to accelerate the development of VIR-5500, a prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA)-targeted, PRO-XTEN® dual-masked T-cell engager (TCE) for metastatic prostate cancer.\n\n\nSummary Financial Terms\n\n\nUpon closing, Vir Biotechnology receives a $240 million upfront payment and a $75 million equity investment at a price of $10.36 per share. The Company will also receive a near-term $20 million milestone payment, will split U.S. profit/loss equally with Astellas (50/50), and is eligible to receive up to an additional $1.37 billion in development, regulatory and sales milestones, along with tiered, double-digit royalties on ex-U.S. net sales. Under the terms of Vir Biotechnology's licensing agreement with Sanofi, a portion of certain collaboration proceeds will be shared with Sanofi.\n\n\nAbout VIR-5500\n\n\nT-cell engagers (TCEs) are powerful anti-tumor agents that can direct the immune system, specifically T-cells, to destroy cancer cells. VIR-5500 is an investigational PRO-XTEN® dual-masked TCE currently being evaluated in an open-label, non-randomized Phase 1 clinical trial (NCT05997615) designed to assess the safety, pharmacokinetics and preliminary efficacy in participants with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). VIR-5500 is the only dual-masked PSMA-targeting TCE in clinical evaluation.\n\n\nVIR-5500 combines a bispecific PSMA and CD3 binding TCE with the PRO-XTEN® masking technology. The PRO-XTEN® masking technology is designed to keep the TCEs inactive (or masked) until they reach the tumor microenvironment, where tumor-specific proteases cleave off the mask and activate the TCEs, leading to killing of cancer cells by T-cells. By confining the activity to the ...