Boehringer selects Ablynx nanobody lead candidate
To be used in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease
Boehringer Ingelheim has selected a nanobody lead candidate from Ablynx for further development for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. This is the first lead candidate emerging from an Alzheimer’s disease collaboration between Belgian biopharmaceutical firm Ablynx and Boehringer Ingelheim signed in 2007, and will result in a €2m milestone payment to Ablynx.
The worldwide research and licensing agreement to discover and develop new therapies for Alzheimer’s disease using Ablynx’s nanobodies is worth a possible US$265m in milestone payments plus undisclosed royalties.
Boehringer Ingelheim is solely responsible for the development, manufacture and commercialisation of any products resulting from the research collaboration.
‘Ablynx’s delivery of this potentially ‘first-in-class’ nanobody candidate for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease highlights the speed at which we progressed from initiation of the discovery programme in 2007 to this stage of development for a very challenging target,’ said Edwin Moses, chief executive of Ablynx.