Astellas signed an option and licensing agreement with Audax Biosciences for DAX-044, a preclinical immuno-oncology candidate built on Audax’s AVIKINE platform. The deal is potentially worth up to $1.34 billion if Astellas exercises its option and reaches future milestones. Audax will receive $285 million in total for upfront and option-related payments, with potential additional development and commercialization milestones up to $1.05 billion. The economics also include tiered double-digit royalties on worldwide net sales if DAX-044 is approved. Under the agreement, Astellas would take sole responsibility for global development and commercialization upon option exercise, while Audax can co-fund and co-promote in Australia and New Zealand. Until then, Audax funds DAX-044 into Phase I, expected to start in 2027. Mechanistically, DAX-044 is an interleukin-12 antibody-cytokine fusion designed to concentrate activity in the tumor microenvironment to avoid systemic toxicity that has historically limited IL-12 approaches.