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news.AstraZeneca has licensed VelocImmune technology from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals for a potential $120 million, as part of its plan to discover human monoclonal antibodies.
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Regeneron said its VelocImmune technology offers the potential to increase dramatically the speed and efficiency of discovering fully-human, therapeutic monoclonal antibodies.
The VelocImmune mouse, unlike other human monoclonal antibody (hMAb) mice, mounts a robust immune response that is virtually indistinguishable from that of a wild type mouse, resulting in a reliable and efficient platform for discovering fully human monoclonal antibodies.
AstraZeneca will conduct the work at Cambridge Antibody Technology (CAT) in the UK as part of its recently stated aim of building a biopharmaceutical capability.
“AstraZeneca is committed to becoming a leader in the area of biologicals and VelocImmune is an important part of our strategy to succeed in this field,” said Jan Lundberg, executive vice president Global Discovery Research, AstraZeneca.
AstraZeneca will pay $20 million upfront and will make up to five additional annual payments of $20 million, subject to the ability to terminate the agreement after making the first three additional payments. AstraZeneca will also pay to Regeneron a mid-single-digit royalty on any product sales.