Milestone payment
BTG plc, the London-based technology commercialisation company, is in line for a $10 million milestone payment after its licensee, Tolerx Inc. formed an alliance with GlaxoSmithKline plc for the development and commercialisation the humanised anti-CD3 monoclonal antibody TRX4 (otelixizumab) for Type I diabetes and other autoimmune and immune-mediated inflammatory diseases.
Under its licence BTG is entitled to 50 per cent of any future milestone payments and has rights to royalties on product sales.
To date, otelixizumab has been evaluated in Type I diabetes in two phase II studies and in psoriasis in two phase I studies. It was shown to preserve the function of insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas in patients with Type 1 diabetes, reducing the amount of insulin that needed to be injected to control blood glucose levels.
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