Adimab Announces Antibody Discovery Platform Transfer with Takeda

LEBANON, N.H.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Adimab, LLC, the global leader in the discovery and optimization of fully human monoclonal and bispecific antibodies, today announced that it has entered into an agreement to transfer the Adimab Platform to Takeda Pharmaceuticals (Takeda) for the discovery and optimization of antibody- and non-antibody-based protein therapeutics. This technology transfer expands an ongoing collaboration between the two companies that was initiated in 2016.

The Adimab transfer will provide Takeda with technology licenses at multiple research sites for discovery and optimization of novel modalities across therapeutic areas. This engineering solution provides Takeda the internal capability to engineer different complex molecules as part of its ongoing pipeline diversification strategy in biologics and other modalities.

“Takeda is building a world-class network of capabilities and partnerships to deliver the best therapeutics to address the unmet needs of specific patient populations,” said Takeda’s Head of Global Biologics Research, Robert Mabry. “Adimab’s antibody discovery platform will help us diversify our pipeline beyond small molecules, expand our modalities for monoclonal antibody therapeutics, and advance other mechanisms of action enabled by antibody binders, including cell therapies, cytotoxic payloads, immunomodulatory payloads and others.”

“For the past three years, we’ve been initiating approximately 35 programs per year internally; this typically involves discovery, optimization and often bispecifics, including using our proprietary CD3 antibodies,” said Tillman Gerngross, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder at Adimab. “The Adimab Platform can be broadly applied to Takeda’s growing biologics pipeline, across many different modalities, so we’re excited to provide Takeda with the capability to advance its protein-based therapeutic efforts.”

“Of the 280-plus Adimab programs initiated to date, almost one-third have come from our Platform Transfer partners, and we see the enablement of more external users as an active area of growth,” added Guy Van Meter, Chief Business Officer at Adimab.

Under the terms of the agreement, Takeda will have exclusive access to unique human antibody libraries and will receive a license to the Adimab Platform for use in all therapeutic areas without any target restrictions. Takeda has also secured options to receive continued improvements to the Adimab Platform, including access to new antibody libraries. Adimab will receive an undisclosed upfront fee, future payments upon achievement of specified preclinical and clinical milestones, and royalties on therapeutic products.

About Adimab

Adimab is the leading technology provider for antibody-based drug discovery, focusing solely on its partners without pursuing an internal product pipeline. Since 2009, Adimab has partnered with 65 pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, generating more than 280 therapeutic programs. The Adimab technology has been transferred and implemented at Biogen, GSK, Lilly, Merck, Novo Nordisk, and now Takeda. Funded discovery partners include leading pharmaceutical companies, such as Boehringer Ingelheim, Celgene, Genentech, Gilead, Kyowa Hakko Kirin, Novartis, Roche, Sanofi and others. Adimab has also partnered with many early-stage venture-backed companies, including Cullinan Oncology, Dragonfly, Pliant, Potenza, Tizona, iTeos and others, as well as mid-size public biopharmaceutical companies such as Acceleron, Alector, Five Prime, Innovent, Jounce, Mersana, Scholar Rock, Surface Oncology, and others.

Adimab’s integrated antibody discovery and engineering platform provides unprecedented speed from antigen to purified, full-length human IgGs. Adimab offers fundamental advantages by delivering diverse panels of therapeutically relevant antibodies that meet the most aggressive standards for affinity, epitope coverage, species cross-reactivity, and developability. Adimab enables its partners to rapidly expand their biologics pipelines through a broad spectrum of technology access arrangements. For more information, visit http://www.adimab.com

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