Abilita Therapeutics, Inc. announced a global licensing and multi-target research collaboration with Finnish Orion Corporation focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of next generation antibody therapeutics in the areas of oncology and pain. The companies will leverage Abilita's proprietary Enabled Membrane Proteins (EMP™) platform to unlock challenging MMP targets. Abilita will be responsible for discovery and lead optimization efforts. Orion will have an exclusive option to license development candidates to each target for continued development and commercialization.
"This collaboration combines Abilita's strength in discovering breakthrough antibody therapeutics for challenging membrane protein targets with Orion's proven expertise in oncology, pain, clinical development, and commercialization," said Mauro Mileni, Ph.D., founder and CEO of Abilita. "We are excited to leverage our EMP™ platform, the most advanced directed evolution approach, to unlock targets to generate high-value therapeutics. The partnership with Orion allows us to accelerate promising therapeutics into the clinic as part of our broader plan to advance our pipeline."
"We are looking forward to this exciting collaboration with Abilita. Orion is dedicated to improving the lives of the patients through innovative R&D and gaining access to Abilita's proprietary EMP™ technology provides us new opportunities on our path to develop novel therapies," said Outi Vaarala, Senior Vice President, Innovative Medicines and Research & Development at Orion.
Under the agreement, Orion will have an exclusive option to license an undisclosed Abilita discovery program upon identification of a development candidate. Orion will have the option to nominate two additional MMP targets under the same option to license arrangement. In addition to the upfront payments for each target, Orion will also fund all joint discovery efforts. In total, Abilita has the potential to earn up to $785 million in milestone payments for all three targets plus royalties on commercial sales.
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