Under the terms of the agreement, Aveo will receive an up-front payment and is eligible to receive milestone payments based upon the achievement of specified development goals. Biogen Idec will have an option exercisable at proof of concept to development and commercialization rights to ErbB3 binding antibodies for territories outside of North America.
Aveo retains all North American commercialization rights, and is responsible for leading global development of the ErbB3 program. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Tuan Ha-Ngoc, president and CEO of Aveo, said: “This agreement for the development and commercialization of our discovery-stage ErB3-targeted antibodies facilitates our strategy to develop a balanced portfolio of small molecule drugs and antibodies for the treatment of cancer.
“The terms of this alliance with Biogen Idec support our strategy to become a fully-integrated company offering cancer medicines through Aveo’s own North American-based commercial organization.”