Belgian biopharmaceutical company Ablynx has announced that Boehringer Ingelheim will extend funding for discovery, development, and commercialization of Ablynx’s Nanobody therapeutics for an additional two years, until September 2014. One of the Ablynx programs ALX-0171, which began Phase 1 trials in December 2011, is an inhaled therapy for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).
BI will provide Ablynx with a total of €6.6 million in addition to the more than €58 million already paid under 2007 strategic alliance. Each Nanobody product that reaches the market could trigger milestone payments of up to €125 million plus royalties.
Ablynx Chairman and CEO Edwin Moses commented,”We are delighted to extend the current Strategic Alliance. As a result of this very successful collaboration, there are now two Nanobody programmes already in pre-clinical development and seven Nanobodies at various stages in discovery across multiple disease areas. In addition, as part of a separate collaboration with Boehringer Ingelheim, there is a Nanobody relevant in Alzheimer’s disease also at the pre-clinical development stage. We are very pleased to have eleven Nanobody programmes potentially able to make an important contribution to Boehringer Ingelheim’s R&D pipeline.”
Read the Ablynx press release.
