Arrowhead Research Corp. of Pasadena said Monday that its Tego Biosciences subsidiary has agreed to sell its intellectual property for fullerenes.

The buyer is Luna Innovations Inc. of Roanoke, Va., a developer and manufacturer of pharmaceutical nanomedicines. Modified fullerenes, which are tiny carbon-based molecules, potentially have uses in diagnostics, therapeutics, imaging and other biopharmaceutical applications.

In its own release Tuesday, Luna said the technology, known as The Bronx Project, has potential for creating medicines, based on carbon nanomaterials, to treat Parkinson’s and other neurodegenerative diseases.

Under the agreement, Luna will pay Tego $430,000 upfront and make milestone payments totaling $4.25 million for each fullerene product it brings to market under Tego’s intellectual property. It also will pay royalties on net sales of products built with the The Bronx Project IP.

Luna said it also acquired research programs Tego has sponsored in radiation protection, anti-viral therapies and macular degeneration.

Arrowhead, a nanotech holding company, acquired Tego when it bought Carbon Nanotechnologies Inc. Chief Executive Christopher Anzalone said his company decided it did not make sense to develop the expertise necessary to develop fullerene-based health care products.

“This agreement is in line with Tego’s plan to limit ongoing costs while retaining the ability to capture potential upside from its broad patent portfolio,” Anzalone said in a statement. “We also recognized that there was a lot of potential value locked up in the Tego patent portfolio, so we sought to unlock that value with the right partner.”

Arrowhead shares were unchanged at 53 cents in midday trading on the Nasdaq.