Pfizer, Coley Enter Agreement to Develop, Market ProMune

Coley Pharmaceutical has signed an exclusive global license agreement with Pfizer that will allow the drug giant to develop, manufacture and market Coley's experimental cancer treatment ProMune.

Under the agreement, Pfizer will make an initial payment of $50 million to Coley, with the potential for up to $455 million in additional milestone payments, plus royalties based on the successful development and commercialization of ProMune. The agreement is subject to government approval. Under certain circumstances, Pfizer said it would also invest up to $10 million in Coley's common stock upon an initial public offering by Coley.

ProMune is known as a toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9) agonist that is delivered by injection and designed to control and prevent various cancer types. Pfizer said it would fund the future development of ProMune, including planned Phase III trials for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer. Pfizer also said it would fund a collaboration with Coley to discover and develop next-generation TLR9 agonists for cancers, which could lead to additional milestone payments and royalties to Coley.