Tango Therapeutics and Gilead Sciences to Collaborate on Immuno-Oncology

Cambridge-based Tango Therapeutics, a company focused on the discovery and development of novel cancer therapies, has announced a global strategic collaboration with Gilead Sciences to discover, develop and commercialize a pipeline of innovative targeted immuno-oncology treatments for patients with cancer.

Under the multi-year collaboration, Tango will perform target discovery and validation and Gilead will have options to worldwide rights on up to five targets emerging from Tango’s proprietary functional genomics-based discovery platform. For two programs directed to these targets, Tango will retain the option to co-develop and co-detail in the U.S. The collaboration does not include Tango’s lead programs, for which Tango will retain all rights.

Under the terms of the agreement, Tango will receive an upfront payment of $50 million. Tango will also be eligible to receive approximately $1.7 billion in total additional payments across all programs in the form of pre-clinical fees and development, regulatory and commercial milestone payments; and up to low double-digit tiered royalties on net sales. For those programs that Tango opts in to co-develop and co-detail, the parties will split profits and losses 50/50 for the U.S., development costs will be shared in a manner that is commensurate with product rights, and Tango will be eligible to receive milestone payments and royalties on ex-U.S. sales.

“Tango has built a unique discovery platform that we hope will help create the next generation of cancer therapies,” said John McHutchison, AO, MD, Gilead’s Chief Scientific Officer and Head of R&D. “Our collaboration will combine Tango’s innovative discovery technology alongside Gilead’s drug discovery and development capabilities to build a pipeline of novel immuno-oncology therapies.”

“Gilead is the ideal partner to help us bring potentially transformative treatments to patients with cancer,” said Barbara Weber, MD, Tango’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “This partnership has significant strategic value for us. With Gilead as our partner, we can maximize the applications of our platform in immuno-oncology, while continuing to independently advance our lead programs into the clinic and beyond.”

Tango Therapeutics is a biotechnology company dedicated to discovering novel drug targets and delivering the next generation of targeted therapies to people with cancer. Tango is focused on three core areas: counteracting tumor suppressor gene loss, reversing the ability of cancer cells to evade the immune system and identifying novel combinations that will be more effective than single agent therapy. The company was launched in 2017 with a $55 million Series A investment funded by Third Rock Ventures and was a 2017 “Fierce 15” company. (Source: Tango Therapeutics Website, 31 October, 2018)

For more information, please visit www.tangotx.com.