SPARC enters pact with UCSF and Tiller Therapeutics for early stage oncology asset

Sun Pharma Advanced Research Company (SPARC) on Tuesday said it has entered into a binding Letter of Intent (LOI) with the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), through the Office of Technology Management & Advancement (OTMA) and Tiller Therapeutics to license SPARC’s rights in the joint intellectual property (IP) held between SPARC and UCSF for pre-clinical oncology asset along with associated IP.

OTMA leads licensing and business development efforts on behalf of the USCF.

The LOI outlines the key terms of license and rights for development and commercialization by Tiller.


Under the terms of the LOI, SPARC will receive a 55% equity stake in Tiller upon execution of LOI. The equity will vest in two tranches; 45% equity will vest upon execution of license agreement and the remaining 10% equity will vest at the earliest of achievement of certain milestones by Tiller or within 6 months of execution of license agreement. the company said in a statement to stock exchanges.

Other terms of the license will be outlined in the license agreement, the statement added.

"We are excited about the opportunity to partner with Tiller to advance potential treatment of solid tumors affecting millions each year, with no current cure,” said Anil Raghavan, CEO of SPARC.

Shares of SPARC dropped 1.37% and were trading at Rs 227.35 on BSE at 9.52 am on Tuesday, the benchmark Sensex declined 0.60%, and was trading at 81,255.99 points.