AVEO Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: AVEO) and Boehringer Ingelheim today announced that they have entered into an agreement for large-scale process development and clinical manufacturing of ficlatuzumab, AVEO's novel HGF inhibitory antibody that is currently in Phase 2 clinical development in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Boehringer Ingelheim will produce ficlatuzumab for clinical trials at its biopharmaceutical site in Fremont, USA. AVEO retains all rights to the development and commercialization of ficlatuzumab. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
“This agreement is further evidence of the progress we are making in the clinical development of ficlatuzumab, and we look forward to working with Boehringer Ingelheim to prepare for the manufacturing activities for ficlatuzumab that would support Phase 3 and beyond.”
"We believe Boehringer Ingelheim is an ideal manufacturing partner based on its expertise in monoclonal antibodies," said Elan Ezickson, executive vice president and chief business officer at AVEO. "This agreement is further evidence of the progress we are making in the clinical development of ficlatuzumab, and we look forward to working with Boehringer Ingelheim to prepare for the manufacturing activities for ficlatuzumab that would support Phase 3 and beyond."
Frank Ternes, senior vice president of the Contract Manufacturing Business Biopharmaceuticals at Boehringer Ingelheim, commented, "We are delighted to be chosen by AVEO as a manufacturing partner for ficlatuzumab and we look forward to leveraging our more than 25 years expertise in this area to support AVEO in further executing its clinical development strategies for ficlatuzumab. This customer project is an important milestone for our Fremont site and a further confirmation that our expansion into the US is of added value for our customers."
The future of UK life sciences starts in the West Midlands