GHENT, Belgium, 1 February 2012 - Ablynx [Euronext Brussels: ABLX] today announced that Boehringer Ingelheim has selected, as part of their strategic alliance, a second Nanobody® candidate for pre-clinical development, which triggered a €5 million milestone payment to Ablynx.
The Nanobody development candidate is designed to interfere with the function of two distinct proteins that are thought to play a major role in human cancers.
In September 2007, Ablynx and Boehringer Ingelheim entered into a strategic alliance on the discovery, development and commercialisation of Nanobody therapeutics across a range of diseases, including oncology, immunology, respiratory and vascular diseases. The agreement allows for potential milestone payments of up to €125 million plus royalties to Ablynx for each Nanobody which reaches market. Boehringer Ingelheim is exclusively responsible for the development, manufacturing and commercialisation of any products resulting from the collaboration. Ablynx retains certain co-promotion rights in Europe. To date, Ablynx has earned >€57 million in cash from this strategic alliance.
"We are very pleased with the progress made in our collaboration with Boehringer Ingelheim. They now have three Nanobody candidates in pre-clinical development including a Nanobody relevant in Alzheimer's disease, and we anticipate additional Nanobodies will be advanced into formal development during the next years," said Dr. Edwin Moses, CEO and Chairman at Ablynx.
About Ablynx
Ablynx (Euronext: ABLX) 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 and life-threatening human diseases, including inflammation, haematology, oncology and pulmonary disease. Today, the Company has over 25 programmes in the pipeline and seven Nanobodies in clinical development. Ablynx has ongoing research collaborations and significant partnerships with major pharmaceutical companies, including Boehringer Ingelheim, Merck Serono, Novartis, and has had a collaboration with Pfizer. The Company is headquartered in Ghent, Belgium and currently employs over 290 people. More information can be found on www.ablynx.com.
For more information, please contact:
College Hill Life Sciences - for international press:
Sue Charles / Melanie Toyne Sewell / Christelle Kerouedan
t: +44 (0)20 7866 7888
e: ablynx@collegehill.com (mailto:ablynx@collegehill.com)
Ablynx:
Dr Edwin Moses
Chairman and CEO
t: +32 (0)9 262 00 07
m: +44 (0)7771 954 193 /
+32 (0)473 39 50 68
e: edwin.moses@ablynx.com (mailto:edwin.moses@ablynx.com)
Marieke Vermeersch
Investor Relations Manager
t: +32 (0)9 262 00 82
m: +32 (0)479 49 06 03
e: marieke.vermeersch@ablynx.com (mailto:marieke.vermeersch@ablynx.com%20)
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Source: Ablynx via Thomson Reuters ONE
