Organon and MRC Technology sign antibody development agreement
Organon, the human healthcare business unit of Akzo Nobel, together with MRC Technology, of London in the UK, have signed a collaborative agreement to develop a humanised antibody for the treatment of certain forms of cancer.
Organon, the human healthcare business unit of Akzo Nobel, together with MRC Technology, of London in the UK, have signed a collaborative agreement to develop a humanised antibody for the treatment of certain forms of cancer.
The Therapeutic Antibody Group (TAG) at MRCT will use its proprietary CDR grafting technology to generate a humanised clinical candidate from a murine antibody discovered at Organon's US Research Center in Cambridge, MA. Organon will pay MRCT r&d milestones, and royalties based on net sales that may result from the commercialisation of any antibody products. Organon will retain all development and commercialisation rights. Additional financial terms were not disclosed.
"Organon has been stepping up its efforts to discover and develop novel biotherapeutics for oncology and auto-immune disorders," said David Nicholson, executive vice president of r&d at Organon. "The collaboration with MRCT on its well-validated antibody humanisation technology is a further step towards becoming effective biotherapeutic drug hunters."
TAG has a proven track record in antibody humanisation that encompasses around 30 successfully humanised antibodies, according to Dr Tarran Jones, director of TAG. Eight of these have progressed to the clinic and two, Elan/Biogen Idec's Tysabri and Chugai/Roche's Actemra, have gone on to achieve market approval.
