Ablynx triggers €2M milestone from Boehringer

Milestone

Ablynx has announced that Boehringer Ingelheim has selected the first lead candidate discovered in the collaboration between the two companies, resulting in a €2 million milestone payment to Ablynx.

Boehringer Ingelheim and Ablynx entered into a research and licensing agreement to discover and develop new therapies for Alzheimer's disease using Ablynx’s Nanobodies, in January 2007. In all the deal is worth a possible $265 million in milestone payments plus undisclosed royalties.

“Ablynx’s delivery of this potentially first-in-class Nanobody candidate for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease highlights the speed at which we progressed from initiation of the discovery programme in 2007 to this stage of development for a very challenging target,” said Edwin Moses, CEO and Chairman of Ablynx. “This lead candidate demonstrates the power of the Nanobody platform in addressing a complex disease such as Alzheimer’s.”

At the same time, Ghent-based Ablynx said its research collaboration with Pfizer to discover nanobodies (a scaled-down form of antibody) to tumour necrosis factor alpha has been extended for another year.  The deal, signed with Wyeth in November 2006, is worth a potential $212.5 million in milestone payments for commercialisation across multiple indications. In addition, Ablynx is eligible to receive royalties on product sales. Pfizer has exclusive rights to develop and commercialise anti-TNF-alpha nanobodies developed under the collaboration, with the lead product currently in a Phase II study in rheumatoid arthritis.