Date: 2014-01-31
Type of information: Licensing agreement
Compound: MALT1 inhibitors
Company: VIB (Belgium) CD3 - KU Leuven (Belgium) AstraZeneca (UK)
Therapeutic area: Cancer - Oncology - Inflammatory diseases
Type agreement: licensing
collaboration
Action mechanism:
Disease:
Details: * On January 31, 2014, VIB and CD3 (KU Leuven) have announced the signing of a license and collaboration agreement with AstraZeneca for the development of novel MALT1 inhibitors as therapeutics in inflammatory and oncological diseases. The research teams of Thijs Baens and Peter Marynen (VIB-KU Leuven, Center for Human Genetics) and Rudi Beyaert (VIB-UGent, Inflammation Research Center) were among the first to identify MALT1, an important regulator of the NF-?B signaling pathway and demonstrate its proteolytic activity on some key substrates. Since then, the proteolytic activity of MALT1 has emerged as a promising target for treatment of auto-immune disorders and certain types of cancer. VIB and CD3 launched a joint early drug discovery collaboration to identify small molecule MALT1 protease inhibitors, which now results in a license to AstraZeneca. AstraZeneca aims to further develop the small molecule MALT1 inhibitors and, as part of the deal, the parties will join forces in an R&D collaboration to further investigate this interesting target. Both teams will undertake work outlined in the joint research plan .
Financial terms: Under the terms of the agreement, AstraZeneca will make an upfront payment and milestone payments based upon the achievement of development and regulatory goals. VIB and CD3 (KU Leuven) are eligible to receive royalty payments on future products developed under the agreement.
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