SPARC shares in focus as firm signs LoI with University of California, San Francisco, and Tiller Therapeutics; all you need to know 

Earlier, in the morning, the pharma company announced the signing of a binding Letter of Intent (LOI) with the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), through the office of OTMA, and Tiller Therapeutics Inc. (Tiller) to license SPARC’s rights in the joint intellectual property (IP) held between SPARC and UCSF for a pre-clinical oncology asset along with associated IP. 

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

Under the terms of the LOI, SPARC will receive a 55% equity stake in Tiller upon execution of the LOI. The equity will vest in two tranches; 45% equity will vest upon execution of the license agreement, and the remaining 10% equity will vest at the earliest of the achievement of certain milestones by Tiller or within six months of execution of the license agreement. Other terms of the license will be outlined in the license agreement.

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

SPARC is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company that focuses on developing innovative therapeutics to improve standards of care for patients worldwide. SPARC was formed in 2007 after a demerger from Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Limited.

The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is exclusively focused on the health sciences and is dedicated to promoting health worldwide through advanced biomedical research, graduate-level education in the life sciences and health professions, and excellence in patient care, the company's press release added.

UCSF Health, which serves as UCSF’s primary academic medical center, includes top-ranked specialty hospitals and other clinical programs and has affiliations throughout the Bay Area.

Tiller Therapeutics Inc is a stealth-stage, oncology-focused biotechnology company founded on work resulting from collaboration between researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, and SPARC.

SPARC share price performance

The stock of the company has disappointed investors in the past one year. On a year-to-date (YTD) basis, shares have fallen over 25%, while in the past 12 months, the share price has slipped over 14%.