Archemix Corporation Expands Collaboration with Ribomic, Inc. for Rights to Develop Aptamer Therapeutics for Multiple Drug Targets; Archemix Will Receive an Upfront Payment of $6 Million with a Total Potential Payment of $200M

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Archemix Corp., a biotechnology company focused on discovering, developing and commercializing aptamer therapeutics, announced today that it granted Ribomic Inc., a worldwide, non-exclusive license to certain of its intellectual property rights to develop aptamers against multiple targets.

Under the terms of the agreement, Archemix will receive an upfront payment of $6 million. Ribomic has the option, upon payment of a further fee, to convert the licenses from non-exclusive to exclusive on a target-by-target basis. When the option is exercised, Archemix is eligible to receive milestone payments and a royalty on any marketed products developed under the agreement. Total milestone payments for the products combined could exceed $200 million. Other financial and business terms were not disclosed.

“Following last year’s one target deal with Ribomic, we are pleased to expand our collaboration with Ribomic. This collaboration is further validation of the broad interest in aptamer technology and exemplifies our strategy of leveraging our leading intellectual property position in aptamer therapeutics to generate cash flow for Archemix,” said Dr. Errol De Souza, President and Chief Executive Officer of Archemix. “Deals such as this contribute to an increase in the numbers of aptamers in development without encumbering our internal resources.”

The collaboration joins the interests of Ribomic and Archemix in focusing on the development of aptamer therapeutics. Ribomic is a bio-venture company based in Tokyo, Japan, formed based on the research from the Medical Institute of Science at the University of Tokyo, and focused on the discovery and development of new aptamer products. Archemix has a broad patent portfolio of fundamental patents for aptamer therapeutics, and a component of the company’s business strategy is to license its intellectual property to third parties, like Ribomic, to develop their own aptamer product candidates.

“This deal combined with Ribomic’s proprietary skills will substantially enhance the chances of brining novel aptamer therapeutics into reality. It should be good news to many people who are suffering from diseases that have no effective treatment at present.” said Michi Nishiyama, President and CEO of Ribomic.

About Aptamers

Aptamers are synthetically-derived oligonucleotides, or short nucleic acid sequences, that bind to protein targets with high affinity and specificity and can be designed to have a specified duration of action. Aptamers represent an emerging class of potential therapeutic agents that Archemix believes may have broad application to treat a variety of human diseases.

About Archemix

Archemix is a biotechnology company focused on discovering, developing and commercializing aptamer therapeutics. Using Archemix's proprietary processes for discovering aptamers, which are protected by its broad patent portfolio, Archemix is developing aptamer product candidates for rare hematological diseases. In addition, Archemix has licensed its intellectual property to third parties to develop their own aptamer product candidates. Currently, Archemix and its licensees are evaluating four different aptamer product candidates in human clinical trials; two in Phase 2 and two in Phase 1. To date, Archemix has licensed its intellectual property to discover and develop aptamer product candidates to nine biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, including Pfizer, Merck Serono and Takeda Pharmaceuticals.

Contacts

Yates Public Relations Kathryn Morris, 845-635-9828

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