GHENT, BELGIUM--(Marketwire - November 18, 2009) -
GHENT, Belgium, 18 November 2009 - Ablynx [Euronext Brussels: ABLX], announced today that it will receive an undisclosed milestone payment from Novartis. The payment has been triggered by successful delivery to Novartis of Nanobody® candidates which met specific criteria. This will be the third milestone payment that Ablynx has received from Novartis since the initiation of the alliance between the companies.
Novartis and Ablynx entered into the alliance in December 2005 to discover and develop therapeutic Nanobodies against targets that are difficult to address with conventional antibodies and fragments. Under the terms of this ongoing agreement, Ablynx receives upfront fees, license fees and funding for research and development. In addition, Ablynx is eligible for milestone payments and royalties upon commercialisation. Novartis has exclusive rights to develop and commercialise the Nanobody products resulting from the collaboration.
Edwin Moses, CEO and Chairman of Ablynx, commented: “This is an important stage in our alliance with Novartis as these Nanobodies have shown significant activity in vivo compared with a benchmark antibody. We are very pleased with the progress made and look forward to reaching further key milestones under this alliance in the future.”
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About Ablynx [Euronext Brussels: ABLX] - http://www.ablynx.com
Founded in 2001 in Ghent, Belgium, Ablynx is a biopharmaceutical company focused on 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. The Company currently has over 220 employees. Ablynx completed a successful IPO on Euronext Brussels [ABLX] on 7 November 2007.
Ablynx is developing a portfolio of Nanobody-based therapeutics in a number of major disease areas, including inflammation, thrombosis, oncology and Alzheimer’s disease. Nanobodies have been generated against more than 150 different disease targets. Efficacy data have been obtained in over 26 in vivo models for Nanobodies against a range of different targets.
For more information, please contact: College Hill Life Sciences - for International media enquiries: Sue Charles, Justine Lamond, Dr John McIntyre t: +44 (0)20 7866 7857 f: +44 (0)20 7866 7900 e: ablynx@collegehill.com Ablynx: Dr Edwin Moses Chairman and CEO t: +32 (0)9 262 00 07 m: +44 (0)7771 954 193 / +32 (0)473 39 50 68 e: edwin.moses@ablynx.com Eva-Lotta Allan Chief Business Officer t: +32 (0)9 262 00 75 m: +32 (0)475 78 36 21 / +44 (0)7990 570 900 e: eva-lotta.allan@ablynx.com
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