Posted on 29/07/2010 in Pharmaceutical Company Product News Astellas has agreed an extension to its non-exclusive licensing rights to the VelocImmune antibody technology platform from Regeneron.
The new deal sees the licence agreement extend to 2023 and involves an upfront payment of $165 million (105.5 million pounds) from Astellas to Regeneron, with a further $130 million to be paid in June 2018.
It represents an amendment to a deal agreed in 2007, initially for six years, and will allow Astellas to continue to use VelocImmune in its internal research in order to discover human monoclonal antibodies.
Currently, Astellas and its US affiliate Agensys are working on the development of around 20 monoclonal antibody projects which utilise VelocImmune technology.
Shinichi Tsukamoto, senior vice-president of drug discovery research at Astellas, said: "Astellas is putting the highest strategic priority on the development of antibody drugs and VelocImmune will continue to be the indispensable technology for our antibody drug development programme."
Last month, Astellas moved to expand its business with the completion of its takeover of OSI Pharmaceuticals, which will give the firm an increased presence in the oncology sector. Other news stories from 29/07/2010
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