Citius Acquires License Of E7777 For All Markets Excl. Certain Parts Of Asia, Japan

(RTTNews) - Citius Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (CTXR) has entered into a definitive agreement with Dr. Reddy's Laboratories SA (RDY) to acquire its exclusive license of E7777, a late-stage oncology immunotherapy for the treatment of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. Citius will acquire Dr. Reddy's exclusive license of E7777 from Eisai Co. and other related assets owned by Dr. Reddy's.

Dr. Reddy's will receive a $40 million upfront payment and is entitled to up to $40 million in development milestone payments related to cutaneous T-cell lymphoma approvals in the U.S. and other markets, up to $70 million in development milestones for additional indications, as well as commercial milestone payments and low double-digit tiered royalties on net product sales.

Citius's exclusive license rights include rights to develop and commercialize E7777 in all markets except for Japan and certain parts of Asia. Citius will also retain an option on the right to develop and market the product in India.

E7777, a purified version of denileukin diftitox, is a reformulation of ONTAK. ONTAK, marketed in the U.S. from 2008 to 2014, was voluntarily withdrawn to enable manufacturing improvements.