Janssen Biotech, Molecular Partners collaborate to develop DARPins for immunological diseases

Dec 8 2011

Molecular Partners AG today announced that it has entered into a strategic research collaboration and option agreement with Janssen Biotech, Inc. to research, discover and develop DARPin® products for the treatment of immunological diseases. The collaboration and expansion of its current agreement with the company and its affiliates aims to explore a defined set of targets, including the use of multispecific DARPins®, to address diseases where continued unmet needs for effective treatment options continue to exist.

Under the agreement, Molecular Partners and Janssen Biotech will collaborate on research of DARPins to selected targets. During the research phase, Janssen Biotech has the right to exercise four options to exclusively license DARPin®-based products. Upon execution of each option, Janssen Biotech will be solely responsible for all clinical development, manufacturing, and commercialization activities. Molecular Partners has an option to co-develop one product on a global basis.

Molecular Partners will receive significant upfront fees, license payments and research funding as part of an innovative agreement, as well as development and sales milestones of up to $200 million for each option. Upon commercialization, Molecular Partners will be entitled to a tiered and up to double-digit royalty on worldwide net sales.

"We are thrilled about entering into this broader alliance with Janssen Biotech as an expansion of our current agreement, which is a significant effort to build and expand our internal and external immunology pipeline. We see the enabling power of the DARPin® platform as a compound engine for us and our partners to generate pioneering multi-specific compounds delivering true patient benefit," said Christian Zahnd, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Molecular Partners. "The strategic value of this deal is the collaborative approach with a multi-disciplinary team of world-class scientists, under which Molecular Partners expands its position of strength as a biopharmaceutical company pioneering innovative protein therapeutics, while retaining rights to develop novel assets not optioned by Janssen Biotech during the research collaboration."

Source: Molecular Partners