Bellicum puts up $50M for Ariad's R&D tech

Bellicum Pharmaceuticals has switched up its deal with Ariad Pharmaceuticals ($ARIA), agreeing to hand over $50 million for a no-strings-attached license to some cell-signaling technology. Under the new deal, Bellicum will hand over $15 million up front, $20 million by June 30 and another $15 million a year later in exchange for the rights to a method of developing human cell therapies for various diseases. The original agreement called for Bellicum to mete out royalty and milestone payments to Ariad over a period of years, and renegotiating the deal gives the former company more flexibility in its cancer R&D projects while providing the latter with some needed cash. More