- Multi-year collaboration to identify up to 10 novel
target-antibody pairs leveraging Immunome's Discovery
Engine
- Immunome to receive $30M upfront payment with potential for further
platform access and option payments as well as development,
commercial, and sales-based milestones, and tiered
royalties
NORTH
CHICAGO, Ill. and EXTON,
Pa., Jan. 6, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- AbbVie (NYSE:
ABBV) and Immunome, Inc. (Nasdaq: IMNM), a clinical-stage
biopharmaceutical company that utilizes its human memory B cell
platform to discover and develop first-in-class antibody
therapeutics, today announced a worldwide collaboration and option
agreement directed to the discovery of up to 10 novel
antibody-target pairs arising from three specified tumor types
using Immunome's Discovery Engine.
"Partnering with Immunome represents AbbVie's commitment to
developing and commercializing novel treatment approaches for solid
tumors," said Steve Davidsen, Ph.D.,
vice president, oncology discovery research, AbbVie. "Immunome's
approach has the potential to unlock novel cancer biology and yield
multiple therapeutic candidates. We look forward to utilizing their
Discovery Engine to enhance our existing oncology pipeline."
"This collaboration with AbbVie, a true leader in the
development and commercialization of oncology therapeutics,
demonstrates the strength of Immunome's Discovery Engine," said
Purnanand Sarma, Ph.D., president
and CEO of Immunome. "AbbVie shares our vision of harnessing the
power of the human immune response to yield novel and
first-in-class therapeutics that represent a shift in the cancer
discovery paradigm. We are delighted to be working with AbbVie and
look forward to leveraging their vast development and
commercialization expertise in bringing new therapies to patients
suffering from life-threatening cancers. This collaboration fits
well within Immunome's strategy to maximize the new drug discovery
potential of our Discovery Engine through partnerships across
multiple therapeutic segments, in addition to advancing our own
proprietary pipeline."
Under the terms of the agreement, Immunome will grant AbbVie the
option to purchase worldwide rights for up to 10 novel
target-antibody pairs arising from the selected tumors. Immunome
will receive an upfront payment of $30M and will be eligible to receive additional
platform access payments in the aggregate amount of up to
$70M based on AbbVie's election for
Immunome to continue research using its Discovery Engine. Immunome
is also eligible to receive development and first commercial sale
milestones of up to $120M per target
with respect to certain products derived from target-antibody pairs
that AbbVie elects to purchase, with potential for further
sales-based milestones as well as tiered royalties on global
sales.
About AbbVie
AbbVie's mission is to discover and deliver innovative medicines
that solve serious health issues today and address the medical
challenges of tomorrow. We strive to have a remarkable impact on
people's lives across several key therapeutic areas: immunology,
oncology, neuroscience, eye care, virology and gastroenterology, in
addition to products and services across its Allergan Aesthetics
portfolio. For more information about AbbVie, please visit us at
www.abbvie.com. Follow @abbvie on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram,
YouTube and LinkedIn
About Immunome
Immunome is a biopharmaceutical company that utilizes its
proprietary human memory B cell platform to discover and develop
first-in-class antibody therapeutics that are designed to change
the way diseases are treated. The company's initial focus is on
discovering and developing therapeutics in oncology internally and
in collaboration with our partners. For more information, please
visit www.immunome.com or follow us on Twitter and
LinkedIn.
About Immunome's Discovery Engine
Immunome's proprietary Discovery Engine identifies novel
therapeutic antibodies and their targets by leveraging memory B
cells, highly educated components of the immune system, isolated
from patients. Memory B cells are key elements in the human immune
system response to disease as they produce specific, high-affinity
antibodies that bind to cancer antigens or pathogens. Immunome's
Discovery Engine incorporates high-throughput screening to enable
efficient, unbiased, broad, and deep functional evaluation of
patient memory B cell repertoires to identify antibodies directed
at novel targets. The functional data we generate differentiates
our approach from those that use deep sequencing of B cells to
identify dominant clones that are common within and across patients
and assumes genomic dominance is a hallmark of therapeutic
utility.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release includes certain disclosures that contain
"forward-looking statements" intended to qualify for the "safe
harbor" from liability established by the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended, including, without
limitation, express or implied statements regarding Immunome's
beliefs and expectations regarding, among other things: Immunome's
and its collaborators' ability to achieve anticipated discovery,
development and commercial milestones the timing and results of
preclinical studies and clinical trials; clinical plans; general
regulatory actions; translation of preclinical data into clinical
safety and efficacy; and therapeutic potential and benefits of, and
possible need and demand for, product candidates that are not
historical fact. Forward-looking statements may be identified by
the words "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "intend,"
"plan," "project," "suggest," "can," "may," "will," "could,"
"should," "seek," "potential" and similar expressions.
Forward-looking statements are based on Immunome's current
expectations and are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and
assumptions that are difficult to predict. Factors that could cause
actual results to differ include, but are not limited to, those
risks and uncertainties associated with: the fact that research and
development data are subject to differing interpretations and
assessments; Immunome's ability to execute on its strategy,
including collaborations with third parties, including with respect
to its R&D efforts, IND submissions and other regulatory
filings, timing of these filings and the timing and nature of
governmental authority feedback regarding the same, initiation and
completion of any clinical studies, confirmatory testing and other
anticipated milestones as and when anticipated; the effectiveness
of Immunome's product candidates, including the possibility that
further preclinical data and any clinical trial data may be
inconsistent with the data used for advancing the product
candidates and that further variants of concern could emerge;
Immunome's ability to fund operations and raise capital; Immunome's
reliance on vendors; Immunome's relationships with its
collaborators; the competitive landscape; the impact of the
COVID-19 pandemic on Immunome's business, operations, strategy,
goals and anticipated milestones; and the additional risks and
uncertainties set forth more fully under the caption "Risk Factors"
in Immunome's Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the United
States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on March 28, 2022, and elsewhere in Immunome's other
filings and reports with the SEC. Forward-looking statements
contained in this announcement are made as of this date, and
Immunome undertakes no duty to publicly update or revise any
forward looking statements, whether as a result of new information,
future events or otherwise, except as may be required under
applicable law. In this press release, we may discuss our current
and potential future product candidates that have not yet completed
clinical trials or been approved for marketing by the U.S. Food and
Drug Administration or other governmental authority, including
expectations about their therapeutic potential and benefits
thereof. No representation is made as to the safety or
effectiveness of these current or potential future product
candidates for the use for which such product candidates are being
studied.
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SOURCE AbbVie