Novartis signs antibody licensing agreement with two biotechs
Novartis has signed a global licensing agreement with two biotechnology companies centring on the development of an antibody treatment for inflammatory skin conditions.
The partnership, with Galapagos and MorphoSys, was announced yesterday, July 19.
At the centre of the collaboration is MOR106, a “monoclonal antibody directed against IL-172”. It is currently being developed for the treatment of inflammatory diseases such as atopic dermatitis, an extreme form of eczema.
Simon Moroney, CEO of MorphoSys, said: “This collaboration with Novartis will enable us to accelerate and broaden the development of MOR106 beyond our current focus on atopic dermatitis and to exploit the potential of MOR106 to the maximum.
“Data from preclinical models and expression analyses suggest that the target of MOR106 might be involved in other diseases, which justifies expanding the development programme,” he added.
Galapagos and MorphoSys discovered the antibody during a previous collaboration. As part of their new agreement with Novartis, they will continue to work together to broaden the development plan for MOR106.
Novartis will hold all rights for the commercialisation of any products resulting from the agreement.
Under the terms of the agreement, Novartis will make an upfront payment of €95 million ($111 million) with additional milestone payments of up to €850 million ($1 billion), plus royalties. The biotechnology companies will share all payments equally, according to the release.
Novartis will also bear the costs of future research, development, and commercialisation related to MOR106.
The agreement is still subject to approval by regulatory authorities, but will become effective as soon as this is given.
Onno van de Stolpe, CEO of Galapagos, said: “It is very gratifying to announce this collaboration with Novartis, an immunology and dermatology powerhouse, to broadly expand the development and pave the path to potential commercialisation.”
The agreement will enable Novartis to challenge competitor Sanofi which, in 2017, released the drug Dupixent (dupilumab) for atopic dermatitis in collaboration with biotechnology company Regeneron, according to Bloomberg.
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