OREANDA-NEWS. Cytos Biotechnology Ltd. (SIX:CYTN) ("Cytos") announced today that it executed an exclusive license agreement in the field of oncology granting Checkmate Pharmaceuticals LLC, Cambridge, MA, USA ("Checkmate") exclusive access to Cytos' clinically validated product candidate CYT003 as well as its VLP platform and to technology related to oligonucleotide synthesis.

Cytos may receive up to USD 90 million in development milestones and may receive up to double-digit royalties on net sales from successfully developed products.

"We are excited about the potential of our immunologically active VLP platform in the field of immune-oncology and believe that Checkmate is well positioned to advance treatment options for patients with cancer", commented Christian Itin, Chairman and CEO of Cytos.

About Cytos Biotechnology Ltd

Cytos is a public biopharmaceutical company located in Schlieren (Zurich), Switzerland. The Company is listed according to the Main Standard on the SIX Swiss Exchange Ltd under the symbol CYTN.

About Checkmate

Checkmate Pharmaceuticals is a research and development company pursuing a novel approach to specifically activating the innate arm of the immune system to recognize and ultimately destroy tumor cells. The company is leveraging their expertise and the vast body of knowledge in the field of CpG oligonucleotides and is validating an approach that will combine the ability of CpG DNA to activate an anti-tumor T cell response with checkpoint inhibition to overcome a tumor's ability to mute the immune response. Checkmate's founder and CEO, Dr. Art Krieg, discovered CpG DNA in 1994 and since then CpG DNAs have been administered to thousands of humans showing potent immune activation and an excellent safety profile. Checkmate is a privately held company headquartered in Cambridge, Mass.