Aratana Therapeutics Regains Rights to AT-004

KANSAS CITY, Kan., Feb.  24, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Aratana Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: PETX), a pet therapeutics company focused on the licensing, development and commercialization of innovative biopharmaceutical products for companion animals, announced today it has regained manufacturing and commercial rights for AT-004, a monoclonal antibody that received a full product license from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on January 2, 2015 as an aid in the treatment of canine B-cell lymphoma.

With the termination of its exclusive license agreement with Novartis Animal Health US, Inc., an affiliate of Elanco Animal Health ("Elanco"), Aratana has regained commercial rights to the product in the US and Canada. Elanco retains a right of first negotiation if Aratana licenses, assigns or otherwise transfers the patent rights or conveys rights to commercialize the canine specific monoclonal antibody to treat canine B-cell lymphoma. The parties also agreed to periodically review collaboration opportunities in oncology.

Aratana will pay Elanco an upfront fee of $2.5 million and will pay an additional $0.5 million on first commercial sale of the product.

Steven St. Peter, M.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Aratana Therapeutics, commented, "Aratana is committed to veterinary oncology, and AT-004 fits very well with our AT-005 product, a monoclonal antibody conditionally approved as an aid in the treatment of canine T-cell lymphoma. Given our expertise in this space, we look forward to future collaborative efforts with Elanco."

Aratana had historically manufactured AT-004 for clinical and regulatory studies. The company will now assume manufacturing the product for commercial use. However, commercial availability will be expanded only after Aratana has worked with several leading veterinary oncologists to better define and evaluate the products in the context of concomitant use of chemotherapy.

Conference Call and Webcast

Aratana will host a conference call today, Tuesday, February 24, 2015, beginning at 6:00 p.m. Eastern Time. Please see below for details.

Webcast:

Accessible via the Investor Relations section of the Company's website at aratana.investorroom.com.

A replay of the conference call and webcast will be available beginning approximately one hour after the completion of the call. Access numbers for this replay are 1 (877) 344-7529 (U.S.), 1 (855) 669-9658 (Canada) and 1 (412) 317-0088 (international); conference ID: 10061350.

About Aratana Therapeutics

Aratana Therapeutics is a pet therapeutics company focused on licensing, developing and commercializing innovative biopharmaceutical products for companion animals. Aratana believes that it can leverage the investment in the human biopharmaceutical industry to bring therapeutics to pets in a capital and time efficient manner. The company's pipeline includes therapeutic candidates targeting pain, inappetence, cancer, viral diseases, allergy and other serious medical conditions. Aratana believes the development and commercialization of these therapeutics will permit veterinarians and pet owners to manage pets' medical needs safely and effectively, resulting in longer and improved quality of life for pets. For more information, please visit www.aratana.com.

About Elanco Animal Health

Elanco is a global innovation-driven company that develops and markets products to improve animal health, food animal production and companion animal care in nearly 70 countries. Elanco, a division of leading pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly and Company, employs approximately 7,000 people worldwide, with offices in more than 40 countries. Additional information about Elanco is available at www.elanco.com.

Novartis Animal Health US, Inc. is now a part of Elanco, a division of Eli Lilly and Company.

Forward-Looking Statements Disclaimer

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements contained in this press release that do not relate to matters of historical fact should be considered forward-looking statements, including without limitation statements with respect to expectations regarding licensure of products; expectations regarding development programs, trials, studies and commercialization; expectations regarding in-licensing initiatives and collaborations; and expectations regarding the Company's plans and opportunities.

These forward-looking statements are based on management's current expectations. These statements are neither promises nor guarantees, but involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, the following: our limited operating history and expectations of losses for the foreseeable future; our lack of commercial sales; our failure to obtain any necessary additional financing; market conditions and our ability to raise capital under the shelf registration statement from the sale of our securities; our substantial dependence on the success of certain of our lead product candidates, our inability to identify, license, develop and commercialize additional product candidates; our inability to obtain regulatory approval for our existing or future product candidates; the lack of commercial success of our current or future product candidates; uncertainties regarding the outcomes of studies regarding our products; our inability to realize all of the anticipated benefits of our acquisitions of Vet Therapeutics and Okapi Sciences; the uncertainty of outcomes of the development of pet therapeutics, which is a lengthy and expensive process; effects of competition; our failure to attract and keep senior management and key scientific personnel; our reliance on third-party manufacturers, suppliers, partners and other third parties which conduct our target animal studies and certain other development efforts; unanticipated difficulties or challenges in the relatively new field of biologics development and manufacturing; our lack of a sales organization; our significant costs of operating as a public company; our current exemption from the requirement to maintain internal control over financial reporting, and any failure to achieve or maintain effective internal control over financial reporting in the future; changes in distribution channels for pet therapeutics; consolidation of our customers; impacts of generic products; limitations on our ability to use our net operating carryforwards; unanticipated safety or efficacy concerns; our limited patents and patent rights; our failure to comply with our intellectual property license obligations; our infringement of third party patents and challenges to our patents or rights; our failure to comply with regulatory requirements; our failure to report adverse medical events related to our products; legislative or regulatory changes; the volatility of our stock price; our status as an "emerging growth company," as defined in the JOBS Act; the potential for dilution if we sell shares of our common stock in future financings; the significant control over our business by our principal stockholders and management; the potential that a significant portion of our total outstanding shares could be sold into the market in the near future; effects of anti-takeover provisions in our charter documents and under Delaware law; and our intention not to pay dividends. These and other important factors discussed under the caption "Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, on March 26, 2014, and the Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the SEC on November 12, 2014, along with our other reports filed with the SEC could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by the forward-looking statements made in this press release. Any such forward-looking statements represent management's estimates as of the date of this press release. While we may elect to update such forward-looking statements at some point in the future, we disclaim any obligation to do so, even if subsequent events cause our views to change. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing our views as of any date subsequent to the date of this press release.

Contacts:

For Aratana investor inquires:
Aratana Therapeutics, Inc.
Craig Tooman
[email protected]; (913) 353-1026

For Aratana media inquiries:
Tiberend Strategic Advisors, Inc.
Andrew Mielach
[email protected]; (212) 375-2694

For Elanco media inquiries:
Elanco Animal Health
Julie Lawless
[email protected]; (615) 585-5861

SOURCE Aratana Therapeutics, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.aratana.com