HGS, BioInvent International AB to discover, develop and commercialize therapeutic monoclonal antibodies

Mar 11 2010

Human Genome Sciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: HGSI) and BioInvent International AB (OMXS: BINV) today announced that they have entered into a collaboration to discover, develop and commercialize therapeutic monoclonal antibodies that specifically target antigens discovered by HGS.

“We continue to make excellent progress in advancing our late-stage products toward commercialization, and at the same time we remain committed to building and advancing our research pipeline to ensure sustainable growth well into the future”

Under the terms of the agreement, BioInvent will apply its state-of-the art antibody discovery technology to generate and develop monoclonal antibody candidates. The collaboration will initially focus on the development of antibodies in the field of inflammation. HGS and BioInvent will each have the right to participate in development and global commercialization of each antibody candidate, and will share research, development, manufacturing and commercialization costs as well as future revenues. Specific terms were not disclosed.

“We continue to make excellent progress in advancing our late-stage products toward commercialization, and at the same time we remain committed to building and advancing our research pipeline to ensure sustainable growth well into the future,” said H. Thomas Watkins, President and Chief Executive Officer, HGS. “We look forward to collaborating with BioInvent to apply their proprietary technology to the development of targeted new therapies based on HGS discoveries.”

Svein Mathisen, Chief Executive Officer of BioInvent, said, “Access to commercially attractive targets to which we can apply our antibody discovery engine is an important part of BioInvent’s strategy. We believe this collaborative agreement is a strong and valuable way of building our pipeline of innovative drugs as BioInvent and HGS’s research strengths are both complementary and synergistic. We are looking forward to working closely with HGS in what we believe will be a long-term, productive collaboration.”