US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer has exercised its option under the companies’ global collaboration agreement to take an exclusive license from Bind Therapeutics for the purpose of developing and commercializing an Accurin drug candidate for the treatment of solid tumors.

Engineered by Bind using one of Pfizer’s proprietary kinase inhibitors and one of Bind’s proprietary ligands, Accurin is designed to impart cellular targeting capability. In exercising the option, Bind will receive a $2.5 million fee from Pfizer. In parallel, Pfizer has informed its partner that it will not exercise its option for the second compound in the collaboration.

Under terms of the original collaboration agreed in April 2013, Pfizer was granted options to obtain exclusive licenses to pursue development and commercialization of two Accurins that incorporate specified Pfizer small molecular targeted therapies.

For the Accurin that has been selected, both companies will work together on preclinical research. Pfizer will have responsibility for development and commercialization, and Bind will conduct chemistry, manufacturing and control activities.

In 2013, Bind received an upfront payment of $4 million and achieved a $1million preclinical development milestone for the selected Accurin in December 2014.

Bind may receive additional milestone payments for the selected Accurin of up to $86 million in aggregate upon the achievement of additional specified development and regulatory events. It may also receive additional milestone payments for the selected Accurin of up to $110 million in aggregate for specified commercial events as well as royalties in the low single to high single digit percentages on any potential future sales.