Vical Scores Big License Pact with Bristol-Myers Squibb

Vical Inc. (NASDAQ: VICL) is seeing its shares surging higher on news that it has signed a worldwide, nonexclusive licensing pact with drug giant Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (NYSE: BMY). The pact covers Vical’s patented platform DNA immunization technology and its Vaxfectin adjuvant for use in the production of antibodies. The news release shows that Bristol-Myers Squibb will use the technology from Vical to generate antibodies with potential therapeutic uses in humans. Vical will also provide specified quantities of the Vaxfectin adjuvant to Bristol-Myers Squibb from time to time.

While Vical shares are surging, it is hard to know what the company will net out of the deal. As you often see in these biotech and drug pacts, the exact financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

Vical’s CEO was quoted saying, “This agreement represents a meaningful step toward monetizing a common use of our broadly applicable intellectual property asset, and establishes a template for additional agreements with others working in the field.”

As you can see here, Vical has an extensive drug candidate pipeline. Its shares are surging higher by 14% to $4.30 after a $3.77 close on Wednesday, and the 52-week trading range is $2.22 to $4.82. Today’s gain puts Vical with a market cap of close to $370 million, and the consensus analyst target price on the stock was listed as $5.50, according to Thomson Reuters, before the effects of this license news.

JON C. OGG