GHENT, BELGIUM--(Marketwire - April 25, 2012) - Ablynx [Euronext Brussels: ABLX] today
announced
that Boehringer Ingelheim has submitted a Clinical Trials Application
(CTA) to
the European regulatory authorities to start a Phase I clinical trial
with a
Nanobody® for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. The
Nanobody has been
developed as part of the collaboration signed between Ablynx and
Boehringer and
the event triggers a EUR1 million milestone payment to Ablynx.
In January 2007, Boehringer Ingelheim and Ablynx announced a worldwide
research
and licensing agreement to discover and develop new therapies for
Alzheimer's
disease using Ablynx's Nanobodies against a single disease target.
The
collaboration has a potential value of $265 million in upfront and
milestone
payments plus undisclosed royalties on product sales. Boehringer
Ingelheim is
solely responsible for the development, manufacturing and
commercialisation of
any products resulting from the collaboration.
Dr Edwin Moses, CEO and Chairman of Ablynx, commented:
"We are excited that Boehringer Ingelheim has already submitted a CTA for
this
Nanobody. This development candidate has the potential to be a first-in-
class
therapy for Alzheimer's disease and demonstrates the power of our
Nanobody
platform. We look forward to seeing this programme enter the clinic
over the
coming months."
About Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of dementia in adults.
It is
estimated to affect 4.5 million Americans and over 30 million people
worldwide
with an average course of 8-12 years. It is projected that the
disease
prevalence will double over the next 20 years. Marketed products address
some of
the symptoms, but there are currently no treatments available that delay or
halt
the progression of the disease. Global sales of Alzheimer's disease drugs
were
approximately $8 billion in 2010 and are expected to exceed $14 billion by
2015.
About Ablynx
Ablynx is a biopharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery and
development
of Nanobodies(®), a novel class of therapeutic proteins based on
single-domain
antibody fragments, for a range of serious and life-threatening human
diseases,
including inflammation, haematology, oncology and pulmonary disease.
Today, the
Company has over 25 programmes in the pipeline and seven Nanobodies at
clinical
development stage. Ablynx has ongoing research collaborations and
significant
partnerships with major pharmaceutical companies, including
Boehringer
Ingelheim, Merck Serono and Novartis. The Company is headquartered in
Ghent,
Belgium. More information can be found on www.ablynx.com.
Complete version of the press release:
http://hugin.info/137912/R/1605625/508554.pdf
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originality of the information contained therein.
Source: Ablynx via Thomson Reuters ONE
[HUG#1605625]
