Strategic collaboration announced to develop Nanobody therapeutics

Biopharmaceutical company, Ablynx, and Sanofi have entered into a strategic collaboration for the development of Nanobody based therapeutics for the treatment of immune-mediated inflammatory diseases.

Under the terms of the collaboration, Sanofi will have access to certain Nanobodies from Ablynx’s portfolio and to the company’s scientists and proprietary Nanobody platform. Additionally, Sanofi will gain exclusive global rights to certain multi-specific Nanobodies against selected targets, with options for similar rights to additional targets, for a total of eight potential Nanobody product candidates.

“This strategically important collaboration further confirms the potential of our Nanobody platform and is a unique opportunity for us to work with a world-leader like Sanofi in the development of a new generation of therapeutics for the treatment of immune-mediated inflammatory diseases,” commented Dr Edwin Moses, CEO of Ablynx. “We look forward to exploring the different Nanobody target combinations as new and novel therapeutic options for patients suffering from a range of inflammatory diseases.”

“This collaboration is the latest example of Sanofi's strategic commitment to expand our drug discovery pipeline in immunology at a time when we are launching new treatments for atopic dermatitis and rheumatoid arthritis,” added Frank Nestle, MD, Sanofi's global head of Immunology Therapeutic Research Area and chief scientific officer, North America. “We are particularly excited by the Ablynx technology as a leading biologics platform, enabling the development of transformative multi-targeting treatment approaches. Through external partnerships like these, combined with our internal R&D expertise, we aim to transform the treatment landscape for patients living with autoimmune and inflammatory conditions.”

An upfront payment of €23 million was paid to Ablynx for licence and option fees. Further, Ablynx will receive research funding that has been estimated at €8 million for the initially selected targets, which will be added to upon any additional targets being gained by Sanofi.

Sanofi will be responsible for the development, manufacturing and commercialisation of any products resulting from this agreement, with Ablynx eligible to receive development, regulatory and commercial milestone payments of up to €2.4 billion plus tiered royalties up to low double digits on the net sales of any products.