Aratana Therapeutics of Kansas City, Kan., has recovered the manufacturing and commercial rights for an antibody that can be used in treating B-cell lymphoma in dogs.

That antibody, AT-004, had been exclusively licensed to Novartis Animal Health U.S. Inc. Aratana will pay Elanco, Novartis’ parent, a fee of $2.5 million, plus $500,000 off the first commercial sale of AT-004-based products. Elanco also gets first right-of-refusal if Aratana ever decides to transfer those rights.

And the two companies said they’ll look for opportunities to work together in the future.

“Aratana is committed to veterinary oncology, and AT-004 fits very well with our AT-005 product, a monoclonal antibody conditionally approved as an aid in the treatment of canine T-cell lymphoma,” said Steven St. Peter, president and CEO of Aratana. “Given our expertise in this space, we look forward to future collaborative efforts with Elanco.”

Aratana’s rights extend to the United States and Canada. In the past, it had only made AT-004 for research and regulatory studies. Before it moves forward with commercial production, the company said it will consult with veterinary oncologists to make sure the antibody is well-positioned for chemotherapy purposes.

Aratana recently won the “Best Pipeline” award from industry news outlet Animal Pharm, based on the range of potential products it has in development.