Ablynx in $840-mn drug licensing deal With AbbVie

Ablynx NV, a Belgian-based biopharmaceutical company, today agreed to sell rights to its experimental drug for treating inflammatory diseases to AbbVie Inc, for as much as $840 million.

Chicago-based AbbVie, recently spun-off from Abbott Laboratories, will pay $175 million for the rights to develop anti-IL-6R Nanobody, ALX-0061 in rheumatoid arthritis and lupus erythematosus.

Ablynx will also receive up to $665 million in potential total milestone payments plus royalties on net sales from the drug, the companies said in a statement.

Under the terms of the agreement, Ablynx will be responsible for completing Phase II clinical development in both rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus.

Upon the achievement of pre-defined success criteria, AbbVie will exercise its right to in-license ALX-0061 and be responsible for subsequent Phase III clinical development and commercialisation.

Ablynx will retain an option for co-promotion rights in Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.

AbbVie said that ALX-0061 targets the interleukin 6 pathway via its IL-6 receptor, which plays a key role in the inflammation process in rheumatoid arthritis. Its small size may potentially allow ALX-0061 to penetrate more effectively into tissues and the potent, monovalent interaction of the molecule with its target reduces the possibility of off-target effects.

Dr Edwin Moses, chairman and CEO of Ablynx, said, ''This deal represents a major milestone for Ablynx and confirms both the potential value of ALX-0061 and the ability of our Nanobody technology to generate clinical candidates with very exciting potential. We truly believe that AbbVie's significant expertise in rheumatology aligns us with the ideal partner to further progress the development of ALX-0061 and to ensure we maximise the potential of this asset.''

''The combined clinical expertise of AbbVie and Ablynx will allow us to progress with the rapid development of ALX-0061, with the current plan being the initiation of various clinical trials in both RA and SLE during the course of 2014 and 2015,'' said, Dr Scott Brun, vice president, pharmaceutical development at AbbVie.

Ghent, Belgium-based Ablynx is a biopharmaceutical company that develops Nanobodies, a novel class of therapeutic proteins based on single-domain antibody fragments, for a range of serious human diseases, including inflammation, haematology, oncology and pulmonary disease.

It has approximately 25 programmes in the pipeline and six Nanobodies at clinical development stage.

Ablynx has ongoing research collaborations and significant partnerships with major pharmaceutical companies including Boehringer Ingelheim, Merck Serono, Novartis, Merck & Co and AbbVie.