Coronado Biosciences, Inc. announced the formation of a new subsidiary company, Checkpoint Therapeutics, Inc., to develop a portfolio of fully human immuno-oncology targeted antibodies generated in the laboratory of Dr. Wayne Marasco, MD, PhD, a Professor in the Department of Cancer Immunology and AIDS at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (Dana-Farber). Dr. Marasco will chair the Scientific Advisory Board of the company. Under the terms of the agreement, Checkpoint will pay Dana-Farber an up-front licensing fee in addition to development and sales-based milestone payments and royalties on net sales.

The portfolio of antibodies licensed from Dana-Farber includes antibodies targeting PD-L1, GITR and CAIX. Checkpoint plans to develop these novel immuno-oncology and checkpoint inhibitor antibodies on their own and in combination with each other, as data suggests that combinations of these targets can work synergistically together. Clinical trials are expected to start in the second half of 2015.