Antares Therapeutics, Inc. announced a strategic collaboration with Novartis (NYSE: NVS) to discover, develop, and commercialize small molecule therapies targeting oncology targets that have historically been difficult to drug.

Under the terms of the agreement, Antares will receive a $105 million upfront payment and is eligible for up to $1.8 billion in additional payments. Those payments include option exercise fees, development, regulatory, and commercial milestones, as well as tiered royalties on global net sales reaching up to the low double-digit percentage range.

Antares will lead all research and apply its discovery platform to a limited number of targets until Novartis exercises its option rights. Antares will also continue to advance its own portfolio of precision medicines for cancer and other diseases during the collaboration.

Adam Friedman, M.D., Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Antares, said the collaboration allows the company to "scale that engine alongside Novartis' world-class development capabilities and global reach."

Fiona Marshall, President of Biomedical Research at Novartis, stated that "many of the most compelling targets today in oncology have historically been considered undruggable," adding that the company believes the collaboration has "the potential to unlock a new wave of targeted therapies."

The partnership combines Antares' covalent drug discovery tools, including proprietary screening libraries, chemical proteomics, and machine-learning capabilities, with Novartis' research and development infrastructure. The information is based on a press release issued by Antares Therapeutics.