Biotechnology company Roquefort Therapeutics plc (LSE: ROQ) announced on Monday that it has signed an out-licensing agreement with Pleiades Pharma Ltd for its MK Cell patents, securing up to USD25m in milestone cash payments and a 1.5% perpetual royalty on global net sales. The agreement is structured through Roquefort's wholly owned subsidiary, Midkine Investments Ltd, as part of the Group's ongoing restructuring.

Under the deal, Pleiades will make staged payments linked to fundraising milestones, clinical and regulatory progress, and commercial sales targets, including up to USD21m based on future worldwide sales.

Roquefort also provided an update on the previously announced sale of its subsidiary Lyramid Pty Ltd to Pleiades for up to USD10.8m. Completion of the share purchase agreement, originally set for 31 October 2025, has been extended to 31 January 2026 to allow Pleiades to finalise fundraising with institutional and sovereign investors in the Gulf Cooperation Council. The sale consideration remains unchanged.

As part of its restructuring, Roquefort has transferred ownership of Lyramid and the MK Cell program to Midkine Investments. The company plans to issue new unlisted redeemable non-voting shares to existing shareholders and convertible loan holders as at 30 November 2025, entitling them to future commercial benefits from Midkine Investments.

Roquefort Therapeutics continues to progress its proposed acquisition of AO-252 from A2A Pharmaceuticals Inc and Coiled Therapeutics Inc, a novel first-in-class cancer therapy targeting the TACC3 protein, first announced on 8 September 2025.