Ligand Enters OmniAb® License Agreement with TeneoBio, Inc.
September 16 2016 - 9:00AM
Business Wire
Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ: LGND)
announces it has entered into a worldwide license agreement with
Menlo Park, CA-based TeneoBio, Inc. Under the license, TeneoBio
will be able to use the OmniFlic® technology from the OmniAb®
platform to discover fully human bispecific antibodies to be
developed for the treatment of various diseases, with an initial
focus on therapeutics for cancer, autoimmunity, and infectious
diseases. Ligand is eligible to receive annual platform access
payments, sublicensing fees, milestone payments and royalties for
products incorporating an OmniFlic antibody. TeneoBio will be
responsible for all costs related to the programs.
“Ligand continues to increase its portfolio of partners and
fully funded drug research programs. Similar to our Captisol
acquisition years ago, our OmniAb business is proving to be a
valuable platform for new deal making,” said John Higgins, Chief
Executive Officer of Ligand. “These follow-on licensing deals post
acquisition are important as we are able to expand our programs
from which we are entitled to receive potential future economics
without increasing our operating costs or diluting our capital
structure.”
“We are delighted with our partnership with Ligand,” said Wim
van Schooten, Chief Scientific Officer of TeneoBio. “OmniFlic
platform access will enable TeneoBio to discover novel antibody
sequences that perfectly complement our UniAb™ technology. We are
familiar with the range of technology offerings in the field, and
believe OmniAb is an industry-leading platform for the efficient
generation of fully-human antibodies. We look forward to further
leveraging our unique discovery engine to develop therapeutic
antibodies at unprecedented speeds.”
About OmniAb®
OmniAb includes three transgenic animal platforms for producing
mono- and bispecific human therapeutic antibodies. OmniRat® is the
industry’s first human monoclonal antibody technology based on
rats. It has a complete immune system with a diverse antibody
repertoire and generates antibodies with human idiotypes as
effectively as wild-type animals make rat antibodies. OmniMouse® is
a transgenic mouse that complements OmniRat and expands epitope
coverage. OmniFlic® is an engineered rat with a fixed light chain
for development of bispecific, fully human antibodies. The three
platforms use patented technology, have broad freedom to operate
and deliver fully human antibodies with high affinity, specificity,
expression, solubility and stability.
About TeneoBio, Inc.
TeneoBio, Inc. is a development stage biotechnology company
developing a new class of biologics, Human Heavy Chain Antibodies
(UniAbs™), for the treatments of cancer, autoimmunity, and
infectious diseases. TeneoBio's proprietary TeneoSeek technology
involves high-throughput UniAb™ repertoire analysis and screening
for the identification of unique antibodies specific for
therapeutic targets of interest. Versatile antibody variable
domains (UniDabs™) derived from UniAbs™ can be assembled into
bispecific and multivalent therapeutic antibodies for the
development of novel biologics, surpassing limitations of
conventional antibody therapeutics. TeneoBio’s “plug-and-play” T
cell engaging platform includes a diverse set of anti-CD3
antibodies to optimize lead selection. TeneoBio is expecting to
begin clinical development of its first multi-specific T-cell
engager against multiple myeloma in 2018.
Roland Buelow, PhD., serves as the Chief Executive Officer of
TeneoBio, and was the Chief Executive Officer of Open Monoclonal
Technology, Inc. (OMT) prior to Ligand’s acquisition of OMT in
January 2016. Following the acquisition of OMT, Dr. Buelow joined
Ligand as Vice President, Antibody Technologies, and works on
behalf of Ligand to advance the OmniAb platform and scientific
collaborations.
About Ligand Pharmaceuticals
Ligand is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing or
acquiring technologies that help pharmaceutical companies discover
and develop medicines. Our business model creates value for
stockholders by providing a diversified portfolio of biotech and
pharmaceutical product revenue streams that are supported by an
efficient and low corporate cost structure. Our goal is to offer
investors an opportunity to participate in the promise of the
biotech industry in a profitable, diversified and lower-risk
business than a typical biotech company. Our business model is
based on doing what we do best: drug discovery, early-stage drug
development, product reformulation and partnering. We partner with
other pharmaceutical companies to leverage what they do best
(late-stage development, regulatory management and
commercialization) to ultimately generate our revenue. Ligand’s
Captisol® platform technology is a patent-protected, chemically
modified cyclodextrin with a structure designed to optimize the
solubility and stability of drugs. OmniAb® is a patent-protected
transgenic animal platform used in the discovery of fully human
mono-and bispecific therapeutic antibodies. Ligand has established
multiple alliances, licenses and other business relationships with
the world's leading pharmaceutical companies including Novartis,
Amgen, Merck, Pfizer, Celgene, Gilead, Janssen, Baxter
International and Eli Lilly.
Follow Ligand on Twitter @Ligand_LGND.
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains forward-looking statements by Ligand
that involve risks and uncertainties and reflect Ligand's judgment
as of the date of this release. These include statements regarding
Ligand's license agreement with TeneoBio, Inc. under which Ligand
may receive annual platform access payments, sublicensing fees,
milestone payments and royalties (which, as used herein includes
royalty-like payments based upon the development and
commercialization of any products based on antibodies discovered
under the license). Actual events or results may differ from our
expectations. For example, there can be no assurances that TeneoBio
will successfully develop or market any antibodies discovered under
the license. The failure to meet expectations with respect to any
of the foregoing matters may reduce Ligand's stock price.
Additional information concerning these and other important risk
factors affecting Ligand can be found in Ligand's prior press
releases available at www.ligand.com as well as in Ligand's public
periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission,
available at www.sec.gov. Ligand disclaims any intent or obligation
to update these forward-looking statements beyond the date of this
press release, except as required by law. This caution is made
under the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
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version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160916005136/en/
Ligand Pharmaceuticals IncorporatedTodd Pettingill,
858-550-7500investors@ligand.comorLHABruce Voss,
310-691-7100bvoss@lhai.com
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