aibioCardiff Oncology disputes Nerviano's termination of 2017 license agreement
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Nerviano Medical Sciences told Cardiff on May 27, 2026 it was ending the License Agreement over a patent inventorship dispute. Cardiff, which sued NMS as defendant on May 19, says the notice is legally ineffective.
Key facts
- Company
- Cardiff Oncology, Inc. (NASDAQ: CRDF)
- News type
- Legal
- Primary source
- Cardiff Oncology, Inc. Form 8-K filed May 29, 2026 (SEC EDGAR)
Cardiff Oncology, Inc. (Nasdaq: CRDF) said on May 29, 2026 that Nerviano Medical Sciences S.r.l. (NMS) has told it in writing that NMS is terminating their 2017 License Agreement, and that Cardiff rejects the termination. Cardiff is the plaintiff in a lawsuit it filed against NMS on May 19, 2026, and NMS is the only defendant the filing names. The company described both steps in a Form 8-K filed with the SEC.
The lawsuit Cardiff filed
Cardiff filed the complaint against NMS in the United States District Court for the Southern District of California. It disputes NMS's allegation that Cardiff materially breached the License Agreement dated March 13, 2017. NMS's claim centers on Cardiff's decision not to name NMS employee Dr. Barbara Valsasina as a joint inventor of Cardiff's U.S. Pat. Nos. 12,144,813 and 12,263,173, which the filing calls the Cardiff Patents.
Cardiff's complaint seeks injunctive relief requiring NMS to continue performing under the agreement, a declaratory judgment that Cardiff did not breach it, and additional relief. A declaratory judgment is a court ruling that states the parties' legal rights. The 8-K says the lawsuit was previously disclosed.
NMS's termination notice
On May 27, 2026, NMS informed Cardiff in writing that it was terminating the agreement under Section 11.3. The filing sets out NMS's allegations.
NMS alleges that Cardiff materially breached the agreement by failing to correct the inventorship of the Cardiff Patents, or to give NMS a power of attorney to correct it, so that Dr. Valsasina would be listed as a joint inventor. NMS cites Section 10.2(c) of the agreement among other provisions.
NMS also alleges that Cardiff failed to use Commercially Reasonable Efforts, a term defined in the agreement, to conduct development activities and to obtain Regulatory Approvals for onvansertib. NMS says this is a material breach of Sections 7.3, 7.5 and 7.9.
Cardiff's response
Cardiff says it promptly responded to NMS that the notice of termination is "legally ineffective, factually unsupported and procedurally improper." The company says it will continue to perform under the agreement.
The 8-K is filed under Item 1.01, entry into a material definitive agreement. Chief Executive Officer Mani Mohindru signed the report for Cardiff on May 29, 2026.
About Cardiff Oncology
In its annual report on Form 10-K filed February 24, 2026, Cardiff describes itself as a clinical-stage biotechnology company leveraging PLK1 inhibition, which it calls a well-validated oncology drug target, to develop therapies across a range of cancers. Its lead drug candidate is onvansertib, an oral and highly selective PLK1 inhibitor with a 24-hour half-life.
The company says it focuses its clinical program on RAS-mutated metastatic colorectal cancer, known as mCRC, and also supports investigator-initiated trials in several other cancers. Its trial CRDF-004 is a Phase 2 open-label, randomized multi-center trial in first-line RAS-mutated mCRC. It tests two doses of onvansertib (20 mg and 30 mg) combined with FOLFIRI and bevacizumab or FOLFOX and bevacizumab, against FOLFIRI or FOLFOX and bevacizumab alone.
The 10-K's risk factor summary says Cardiff is a clinical-stage company that may never earn a profit and that it will need to raise substantial additional capital to develop and commercialize onvansertib. The summary adds that failure to obtain funding when needed may force it to delay, reduce or eliminate development programs or collaboration efforts. It also lists intellectual property risks among the matters that could affect its business.