Date: 2015-10-15
Type of information: Licensing agreement
Compound: ozoralizumab
Company: Ablynx (Belgium) Taisho Pharmaceutical (Japan)
Therapeutic area: Autoimmune diseases – Inflammatory diseases - Rheumatic diseases
Type agreement: development licensing commercialisation
Action mechanism: monoclonal antibody. Ozoralizumab is a trivalent, bi-specific Nanobody (Nanobodies® are therapeutic proteins based on single-domain antibody fragments) that potently neutralises TNF alpha and binds to human serum albumin to increase its in vivo half-life. The Nanobody format has a number of significant advantages over the currently available TNF alpha inhibitors. It does not have an Fc domain (‘antibody tail’), and hence is not expected to engage the patient’s immune system. Its smaller size and the fact that ozoralizumab binds to human serum albumin could lead to an improved tissue penetration, for instance to inflamed joints. Its physicochemical properties allow for high concentration of the final drug product and for alternative routes of administration other than just injection.
Disease: rheumatoid arthritis
Details: * On June 30, 2015, Ablynx announced that it has entered into an exclusive license agreement with Taisho Pharmaceutical Co., for the development and commercialisation of Ablynx\'s anti-TNFa Nanobody, ozoralizumab, in Japan, for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. Under the terms of the agreement, Taisho will be responsible for development, registration and commercialisation of anti-TNFa Nanobody therapeutics in Japan. On 1 September 2014, Ablynx granted an exclusive royalty-bearing license to Eddingpharm, one of the leading Chinese specialty pharmaceutical companies, to develop and commercialise ozoralizumab in Greater China.
Financial terms: Ablynx will receive an upfront payment of US$3 million and is entitled to receive development and commercial milestone payments plus royalties based on annual net sales of anti-TNFa Nanobody therapeutics generated in Japan.
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