Ligand Announces OmniAb® Partnership with iMetabolic Biopharma Corporation
November 21 2018 - 9:00AM
Business Wire
Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ: LGND)
announces it has entered into a worldwide OmniAb partnership with
iMetabolic Biopharma Corporation (iMBP), an early stage biopharma
company located in Tempe, AZ. Under the terms of the partnership,
iMBP gains access to the full OmniAb platform including OmniRat®,
OmniMouse®, OmniFlic® and OmniChicken™ in their drug discovery
efforts. Ligand received an up-front license payment and is
eligible to receive a tiered royalty on future potential sales of
up to 6%. As part of the agreement, Ligand will fund and facilitate
selected early antibody discovery activities and will in return
receive an ownership position in iMBP. iMetabolic Biopharma
Corporation will be responsible for pre-clinical and clinical
development costs and commercialization costs.
“Ligand is proud of its heritage of establishing strategic
partnerships with innovative, emerging organizations with
experienced management teams, and our agreement with iMetabolic
Biopharma Corporation is another example of such an alliance,” said
John Higgins, Chief Executive Officer of Ligand. “Like our many
other OmniAb partners, iMBP understands the value and benefit of
the multi-species, genetically engineered OmniAb platforms for
generation of diverse mono- and bispecific fully human antibodies
as they look to develop first-in-class therapeutics for metabolic
diseases with significant unmet needs.”
Dr. Urban A. Kiernan, the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of
iMetabolic Biopharma Corporation, stated, “The willingness of the
Ligand team to execute this partnership deal clearly shows their
understanding of the needs and value of early stage drug discovery
and development companies. Such partnerships are the driving force
of innovation and we are honored and enthused to have a partner in
Ligand.”
About OmniAb®
OmniAb is a three-species transgenic-animal platform consisting
of four different technologies used 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. OmniChicken™ is
the industry’s first human monoclonal antibody technology based on
chickens. The four technologies use patented technology, have broad
freedom to operate and deliver fully human antibodies with high
affinity, specificity, expression, solubility and stability.
About iMetabolic Biopharma Corporation
iMetabolic Biopharma Corporation (iMBP) is an exciting early
stage precision medicine biopharma company that is developing a
novel therapeutic to treat obesity-related diseases. This includes
a spectrum of disorders, but the company has elected to focus
initially on hyperlipidemia in the form of Familial Chylomicronemia
Syndrome (FCS). Based in Tempe, AZ, iMBP is growing its operations
to support the development of its lead candidate molecule. As there
is significant unmet need in the development of drugs in this
space, and with heart disease remaining the number one cause of
death both in the US and globally, it is clear that innovation is
required to improve this issue. Focusing on a new area of lipid
metabolism, the iMBP Corp team and its network of physicians and
researchers are poised to move forward ground-breaking science to
help improve patient care. "Restoring Health Through
Innovation"
Follow iMetabolic Biopharma Corporation on social media.Twitter:
@iMetabiopharmaFacebook: @iMBPCorpLinkedIn: iMetabolic Biopharma
Corporation
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 partnership agreement with iMBP under which Ligand may
receive defined equity payments and royalties. Actual events or
results may differ from our expectations. For example, there can be
no assurances that iMBP 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: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181121005137/en/
Ligand Pharmaceuticals IncorporatedTodd
Pettingillinvestors@ligand.com(858) 550-7893@Ligand_LGND
LHABruce Vossbvoss@lhai.com(310) 691-7100
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