ABLYNX ANNOUNCES WORLDWIDE CANCER IMMUNOTHERAPY DISCOVERY COLLABORATION AND LICENSING AGREEMENT WITH MERCK
Utilising the Nanobody® technology to generate multi-specific drugs
GHENT, Belgium, February 3, 2014 -Ablynx [Euronext Brussels: ABLX], today
announced that the company has entered into a second research collaboration and
licensing agreement with a subsidiary of Merck & Co., known outside the US and
Canada as MSD.
This new exclusive collaboration and licensing agreement is focused on the
discovery and development of several predefined Nanobody candidates (including
bi- and tri-specifics) directed toward so called "immune checkpoint modulators,"
proteins believed to provide potential targets for the development of cancer
immunotherapies, a rapidly emerging approach to the treatment of a wide range of
cancer types.
Under the terms of the agreement, Ablynx will receive an upfront payment of €20
million and up to €10.7 million in research funding during the initial three
year research term of the collaboration. In addition, Ablynx is eligible to
receive development, regulatory and commercial milestone payments on achieved
sales thresholds for a number of products with ultimate potential to accrue as
much as €1.7 billion plus tiered royalties. Merck will be responsible for the
development, manufacturing and commercialisation of any products resulting from
the collaboration.
Dr Edwin Moses, CEO of Ablynx, commented: "We are pleased to have expanded our
relationship with Merck beyond the collaboration we signed in 2012. It
demonstrates the potential of our Nanobody platform and how it can be used to
discover and develop therapeutics in important areas of unmet medical need. The
collaboration will benefit from the world-class resources and expertise that
Merck has in the immuno-oncology field and we look forward to a fruitful and
successful partnership in the development of these new therapeutic candidates."
"This collaboration positions Merck to expand our early oncology pipeline by
developing innovative candidates based on Ablynx's Nanobody technology," said Dr
Roger M. Perlmutter, President of Merck Research Laboratories. "This second
agreement builds beyond our ongoing collaboration in neuroscience and is
consistent with Merck's focus on developing candidates with the potential to
make a meaningful difference in the lives of patients."
About Immuno-oncology
Immuno-oncology is a new area of medicine that aims to develop immunotherapies
that enhance the host immune response against cancer cells. Although the number
of immunotherapeutics on the market is still low, the commercial potential and
clinical impact for this drug class is considerable.
Among the most promising approaches to activating therapeutic anti-tumour
immunity is the modulation of immune checkpoints. Immune checkpoints refer to a
plethora of pathways hardwired into the immune system that are crucial for
modulating the duration and extent of physiological immune responses. Under
normal settings these checkpoints modulate the immune response to prevent undue
damage. It is now clear that tumours co-opt several different immune-checkpoint
pathways as a major mechanism to subvert anti-tumour immune responses. Since
many of the immune checkpoints are initiated by ligand-receptor interactions,
they should be well-suited to targeting by biologics, especially multi-targeting
agents such as Nanobodies.
About Ablynx
Ablynx is a biopharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery and development
of Nanobodies®, a novel class of therapeutic proteins based on single-domain
antibody fragments, for a range of serious human diseases, including
inflammation, haematology, oncology and pulmonary disease. Today, the Company
has approximately 30 programmes in the pipeline and seven Nanobodies in clinical
development. Ablynx has on-going research collaborations and significant
partnerships with major pharmaceutical companies including AbbVie, Boehringer
Ingelheim, Eddingpharm, Merck & Co, Merck Serono and Novartis. The Company is
headquartered in Ghent, Belgium.
More information can be found on www.ablynx.com.
For more information, please contact
Ablynx:
Dr Edwin Moses
CEO
t:Â Â +32 (0)9 262 00 07
m: +44 (0)7771 954 193 /
    +32 (0)473 39 50 68
e:Â edwin.moses@ablynx.com
Marieke Vermeersch
Associate Director Investor Relations
t:Â Â +32 (0)9 262 00 82
m: +32 (0)479 49 06 03
e:Â marieke.vermeersch@ablynx.com
Follow us on Twitter @AblynxABLX
Ablynx media relations Consilium Strategic Communications:
Mary-Jane Elliott, Amber Bielecka, Lindsey Neville
t:Â Â +44 207 920 2345
e:Â ablynx@consilium-comms.com
pdf version of the press release:
http://hugin.info/137912/R/1758542/594579.pdf
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