The $1 million payment has been triggered with the significant progress made in the first stage of evaluation of the licensed proteins. This evaluation strongly supported the potential of a selection of the licensed proteins as antibody targets and development of a therapy to treat pathological angiogenic conditions. This milestone marks commencement of the next phase of the development program under the collaboration.
Bionomics has the rights and is actively developing a large number of additional proprietary proteins discovered through its angiogenesis program, including BNO69. In addition Bionomics’s anti-cancer drug BNC105 will soon commence a Phase I clinical trial at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Royal Melbourne Hospital and Western Hospital cancer centres in Melbourne for the treatment of solid tumours including breast, colon and prostate cancers.
Deborah Rathjen, CEO of Bionomics, said: “This is a very significant milestone for Bionomics as it validates Bionomics’s Angene platform as a source of new treatment modalities for cancer and other conditions involving pathological formation of new blood vessels.”