AbbVie, Xilio Partner To Develop Novel Tumor-Activated Immunotherapies; Stock Up In Pre-market

(RTTNews) - AbbVie Inc. (ABBV) and Xilio Therapeutics, Inc. (XLO), a clinical-stage biotechnology company, Wednesday announced collaboration and option-to-license agreement to develop novel tumor-activated immunotherapies leveraging Xilio's proprietary technology. Following the news, Xilio shares were rising more than 100 percent in pre-market.

Xilio, who has developed a clinically-validated platform technology for tumor-activated biologics, is advancing a pipeline of clinical and pre-clinical immunotherapies.

As per the deal, Xilio will receive $52 million in upfront payments, including a $10 million equity investment. The company is also eligible to receive up to about $2.1 billion in contingent payments for option-related fees and milestones plus tiered royalties.

"This collaboration with AbbVie, a global leader in developing and commercializing oncology therapies, allows us to accelerate the expansion of our technology to next-generation immunotherapies, including T-cell engagers," said Uli Bialucha, chief scientific officer of Xilio.

Xilio stock had closed at $0.6570, down 1.94 percent on Tuesday. It has traded in the range of $0.50 - 1.93 in the last 1 year.