21 December 2011 - US biotech Agenus Inc (NASDAQ:AGEN) said earlier this week it had signed a licence, development and manufacturing technology transfer deal with Russian NewVac LLC for Agenus' Oncophage (HSPPC-96; vitespen) vaccine.

NewVac LLC is a subsidiary of Russian non-governmental research and development centre for life sciences, ChemRar High Tech Center.

Oncophage is approved in Russia for the treatment of renal cell carcinoma in patients at intermediate risk of recurrence.

Under the deal, NewVac has received an exclusive licence to manufacture, market and sell Oncophage as well as pursue a development programme of Oncophage in combination with NewVac's co-adjuvant technology in the Russian Federation and CIS countries.

Agenus is eligible to receive a transfer price and/or royalties upon Oncophage product sales, and potential milestone payments.