Licensing agreement
Belgium’s UCB Pharma SA has agreed a partnership with the German biotech Wilex AG, under which Wilex will acquire worldwide rights to develop UCB’s entire preclinical oncology portfolio of two small-molecule programmes and three antibody programmes.
UCB retains exclusive rights to take each of the five programmes back in-house following completion of initial clinical feasibility studies, in which case it will assume responsibility for further development and commercialisation.
If UCB decides not to take on a product, Wilex will have rights to develop and commercialise it.
UCB is to invest €10 million in Wilex, and will also make milestone payments of €10 million when the first product enters clinical trials. The deal will give UCB 13 per cent of Wilex’s equity.
Melanie Lee, Executive Vice-President of UCB, said, “This alliance will give UCB the opportunity to focus our R&D priorities in our core indication areas, central nervous system and immunology […] while benefiting from Wilex’s comprehensive oncology expertise, focus and know-how.”
Olaf Wilhelm, Wilex Chairman, said, “We have gained in UCB not only an important development partner, but also a strong strategic investor which will help to further the development of our company.” Wilex was spun out of the Technical University of Munich in 1997.
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