On October 14, 2015, The Ontario Institute for Cancer Research ("OICR") and Novera Therapeutics Inc. announced a collaboration with Janssen Biotech, LLC, a pharmaceutical company of Johnson & Johnson, to accelerate the development of promising small molecule drug candidates for haematological cancers.

Novera will discover and develop novel therapeutic compounds identified through OICR's drug discovery program in partnership with University Health Network's (“UHN”) enabling technology and disease area biology, and coordinate the collaboration with Janssen under a collaboration, license option, and exclusive license agreement.

Under the agreement, Novera will receive an upfront payment and is eligible to receive various pre-clinical, clinical, regulatory and commercialization success-based milestone payments up to a total of approximately $450 million, plus tiered royalties on potential net sales of products.

Established by the Fight Against Cancer Innovation Trust (“FACIT”), Novera is a biotherapeutics company focused on developing and commercializing therapies that improve patient outcomes in difficult-to-treat cancers. Novera's drug candidates are derived from discoveries, research and innovations originating from OICR and UHN.

FACIT is an independent business entity established by OICR to undertake and accelerate development and commercialization activities related to breakthrough cancer research, products and drug discovery from OICR and throughout Ontario.

Gowlings advised FACIT with respect to the negotiation of this agreement with a team that included Vanessa Grant and Tal Cyngiser (corporate/life sciences), Anita Nador (IP) and David Stevens and Laura Monteith (tax).