Arsanis And Adimab LLC. Enter Into License Agreement To Target Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) With Monoclonal Antibodies

WALTHAM, Mass. & VIENNA & LEBANON, N.H.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Arsanis, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing targeted monoclonal antibodies for pre-emptive and post-infection treatment of serious infectious diseases, and Adimab, LLC, the global leader in the discovery and optimization of fully human monoclonal and bispecific antibodies, announced today they have entered into an agreement under which Arsanis has secured the exclusive, worldwide license to antibodies targeting respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) that were discovered by Adimab. Arsanis will initially focus on the selection of a lead RSV antibody candidate and has received a grant of up to $9.3 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to advance the selected antibody to IND filing.

“We believe this approach has the potential to address a significant global need for effective and accessible RSV therapeutics in both developed and developing countries.”

“Arsanis’ partnerships with Adimab and the Gates Foundation will allow us to apply our deep expertise in the discovery and development of anti-infective antibodies to advance highly potent human monoclonal antibodies for the prevention of RSV infection,” said Rene Russo, Pharm.D., BCPS, President and Chief Executive Officer, Arsanis. “We believe this approach has the potential to address a significant global need for effective and accessible RSV therapeutics in both developed and developing countries.”

Under the agreement with Adimab, Arsanis has exclusively licensed a panel of RSV antibodies for the purpose of evaluating and selecting the best therapeutic leads under an exclusive global development and commercialization license. Adimab will be entitled to receive license fees and development milestones, as well as a royalty on net sales.

“We are very pleased that Arsanis and the Gates Foundation are collaborating on this important program. Through our B cell isolation approach, Adimab has identified highly potent antibodies against a number of infectious disease targets. The RSV antibodies licensed to Arsanis include some of the most potent RSV neutralizers reported to date,” said Guy Van Meter, VP of Business Development at Adimab. “This new agreement expands an already successful relationship with Arsanis, under which Arsanis’ lead program ASN100 for S. aureus pneumonia, currently in a Phase 2 clinical study, was discovered.”

About Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV)

RSV is a highly contagious virus that causes infections in both the upper and lower respiratory tract. RSV infects nearly every child at least once by the age of two years and is a major cause of hospitalization due to respiratory infection in children, the elderly, and immunocompromised patients. RSV infection typically results in cold-like symptoms but can lead to more serious respiratory illnesses such as croup, pneumonia, bronchiolitis, and in extreme cases, death. RSV infection in the pediatric and adult populations account for more than 300,000 hospitalizations per year in the U.S. In the developing world, RSV is responsible for 30 million cases of acute respiratory tract infection and 200,000 deaths per year. As a result, there is a significant need for novel therapeutics to prevent RSV infection.

About Arsanis, Inc.

Arsanis is a clinical-stage biotechnology company leading the development of targeted monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) for pre-emptive therapy and treatment of serious infectious diseases. The company’s current programs address pathogenic processes selectively, aiming to preserve the healthy microbiome and potentially allowing Arsanis to address critical infections without contributing to the problem of resistance. The company is building a broad product pipeline addressing the most important infectious diseases that threaten patients globally. Its lead clinical program, ASN100, is aimed at serious Staphylococcus aureus infections and is being evaluated in a Phase 2 clinical study for the prevention of S. aureus pneumonia in high-risk patients.

Arsanis is a U.S. company headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts, with European research and preclinical development operations headquartered in Vienna, Austria (Arsanis Biosciences GmbH). For more information, please visit the Arsanis website at www.arsanis.com.

About Adimab

Adimab has established antibody discovery collaborations with many leading pharmaceutical companies, such as Merck, Novo Nordisk, Biogen, GSK, Roche, Novartis, Eli Lilly, Genentech, Celgene, Gilead, Kyowa Hakko Kirin, Takeda and Sanofi. In addition, Adimab has partnered with several smaller publicly traded companies, such as Acceleron, Merrimack Pharmaceuticals, Kite, Five Prime, as well as leading venture-backed companies including Jounce, Mersana, Alector, Surface Oncology, Potenza, Tizona, Tusk and several academic institutions such as Memorial Sloan Kettering and MD Anderson. The Adimab antibody discovery and optimization platform has also been internalized by several large pharma partners; Adi-inside partners include Merck, Novo Nordisk, Biogen and GSK.

Adimab’s integrated antibody discovery and optimization 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, please visit the Adimab website at http://www.adimab.com.