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news.Ligand Pharmaceuticals has entered into a worldwide license agreement with Menlo Park, CA-based TeneoBio.
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Under the license, TeneoBio will be able to use the OmniFlic technology from the OmniAb platform to discover fully human bispecific antibodies to be developed for the treatment of various diseases, with an initial focus on therapeutics for cancer, autoimmunity, and infectious diseases.
Ligand is eligible to receive annual platform access payments, sublicensing fees, milestone payments and royalties for products incorporating an OmniFlic antibody. TeneoBio will be responsible for all costs related to the programs.
Ligand CEO John Higgins said: “Ligand continues to increase its portfolio of partners and fully funded drug research programs. Similar to our Captisol acquisition years ago, our OmniAb business is proving to be a valuable platform for new deal making.
"These follow-on licensing deals post acquisition are important as we are able to expand our programs from which we are entitled to receive potential future economics without increasing our operating costs or diluting our capital structure.”
Wim van Schooten, Chief Scientific Officer of TeneoBio, said: “We are delighted with our partnership with Ligand. “OmniFlic platform access will enable TeneoBio to discover novel antibody sequences that perfectly complement our UniAb technology.
"We are familiar with the range of technology offerings in the field, and believe OmniAb is an industry-leading platform for the efficient generation of fully-human antibodies. We look forward to further leveraging our unique discovery engine to develop therapeutic antibodies at unprecedented speeds.”
About OmniAb
OmniAb includes three transgenic animal platforms for producing mono- and bispecific human therapeutic antibodies. OmniRat is the industry’s first human monoclonal antibody technology based on rats.
It has a complete immune system with a diverse antibody repertoire and generates antibodies with human idiotypes as effectively as wild-type animals make rat antibodies.
OmniMouse is a transgenic mouse that complements OmniRat and expands epitope coverage. OmniFlic is an engineered rat with a fixed light chain for development of bispecific, fully human antibodies.
The three platforms use patented technology, have broad freedom to operate and deliver fully human antibodies with high affinity, specificity, expression, solubility and stability.