Adimab partners with Celgene for therapeutic antibodies

LEBANON, N.H.—Adimab, LLC, a company specializing in fullyhuman antibodies, has announced the establishment of a multi-target discoverycollaboration with biopharmaceutical company Celgene Corporation. Adimab workswith a proprietary, fully human, yeast-based platform.

"We are very pleased to announce another major pharmapartnership," Tillman Gerngross, CEO and co-founder of Adimab, said in a pressrelease regarding the agreement. "Celgene has developed a highly successfuloncology and inflammation franchise, and we are excited to partner with them tosupport their expanding antibody-based therapeutic portfolio."

Per the terms of the agreement, Adimab will utilize itsproprietary platform for the generation of therapeutic antibodies againstmultiple targets. For each target, Celgene will have the right to develop andcommercialize all therapeutic antibodies that are generated under thecollaboration for possible use as therapeutic products. Though no specificfinancial terms were released, Adimab will receive an undisclosed upfrontpayment from Celgene. In addition, should Celgene choose to exercise its optionfor any of the targets, Adimab will be eligible for license fees, clinicalmilestones and royalties on therapeutic product sales.

Adimab's platform is capable of providing a readout in amatter of hours, compared to the days it takes to generate a readout from humanB-cell/hybridoma cell lines.

"The speed and technical superiority of our platform drivesall of our deal flow," said Guy Van Meter, vice president of BusinessDevelopment at Adimab, commented in a statement. "The Adimab Platform is anextremely versatile antibody discovery and engineering tool that can be appliedto a variety of different therapeutic development approaches, including IgGdiscovery, optimization, humanization and bispecifics."

Adimab announced another agreement the same day, this onewith Innovent Biologics, Inc. The two companies have formed a therapeutic discoverypartnership for the discovery, development and commercialization of anantibody-based therapeutic program. Per the terms of the agreement, Adimab willmake use of its antibody discovery and optimization platform to identify afully human therapeutic antibody against a target that Innovent will select.Innovent will be in charge of initial product development, manufacturing andclinical trials, and both companies will retain rights to develop andcommercialize the therapeutic program in their respective territories.

In 2013 alone, Adimab has announced the establishment or expansionof agreements with seven companies. The organization inked a discoverycollaboration with Kyowa Hakko Kirin and expanded collaborations with Merck andLilly in January, and announced its first technology transfer agreement withGlaxoSmithKline and its second technology transfer agreement with Biogen Idecin July. Adimab has also established agreements in recent years with Gilead,Novo Nordisk A/S and Genentech.