Wyeth, Ambrx Form Alliance

Wyeth Pharmaceuticals has announced the formation of a worldwide alliance to discover, develop, and commercializes protein drug candidates for three undisclosed targets in multiple therapeutic areas.

The alliance would capitalise on Ambrx’s recent breakthroughs in applying its protein medicinal chemistry platform to proteins produced in mammalian cells such as antibodies and antibody-toxin conjugates.

Ambrx would be eligible to receive escalating preclinical, clinical, regulatory and commercial milestone payments as well as tiered royalties on sales of products resulting from the collaboration.

Mikael Dolsten, president of Wyeth Research, said: “This collaboration with Ambrx reinforces Wyeth’s commitment to sustaining and growing our already robust capabilities in the field of biologics drug discovery through partnerships with biotech innovators. We are enthusiastic about working with Ambrx, a company with the ability to create and advance precisely engineered biologic drug candidates into clinical trials using its proprietary platform.”

Stephen Kaldor, president and CEO of Ambrx, said: “Wyeth is a long-standing leader in protein therapeutics with a strong record of successfully developing innovative products. We are pleased that Wyeth recognises the power of the Ambrx EuCODETM platform and look forward to collaborating with Wyeth’s talented personnel to produce the next generation of biologic drugs.”