UPDATE 1-Vical licenses cancer drug to Turkey's Eczacibasi
(Adds details)
Dec 3 (Reuters) - Biotechnology company Vical Inc (VICL.O) signed a letter of intent with Turkey's Eczacibasi Ilac Pazarlama A.S. (ECILC.IS) to market and sell its experimental cancer drug, Allovectin-7, in Turkey and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.
In exchange for the license, Eczacibasi would pay Vical upfront and milestone payments apart from a specified transfer price, Vical said in a statement. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.
San Diego-based Vical said it continues to explore licensing and distribution agreements in additional international markets.
Allovectin-7 is currently in a late-stage trial as a treatment for advanced metastatic melanoma, a type of cancer.
The drug has been granted orphan drug status for the treatment of invasive and metastatic melanoma by U.S. health regulators, Vical said.
Orphan drug status is given to drugs that treat diseases affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the United States and grants drug developers seven years of market exclusivity.
Vical stock closed at $1.11 Tuesday on Nasdaq.
Shares of Vical, which recently said it would cut about 20 percent of its workforce and close a research facility to preserve capital, have lost nearly three-fourths of their value so far this year. (Reporting by Vidya L Nathan in Bangalore; Editing by Himani Sarkar)
