Pfizer licenses Avant vaccine against brain cancer

NEW YORK, April 16 (Reuters) - Pfizer Inc (PFE.N) said on Wednesday it had agreed to license from Avant Immunotherapeutics AVAN.O its experimental vaccine to treat the most common form of brain cancer.

"Under the licensing and development agreement, Pfizer will make an upfront payment to Avant of $40 million and will make a $10 million equity investment in Avant," the companies said in a joint press release.

The vaccine, called CDX-110, is now in mid-stage trials. It is designed to coax the immune system to attack a type of protein found only in cancer cells that is believed to stimulate cancer cell growth, the companies said. (Reporting by Ransdell Pierson)