Affibody AB and Chiesi Farmaceutici S.p.A have announced a collaboration and licensing agreement to develop and commercialize innovative treatments for respiratory diseases using Affibody’s proprietary technology.
Under the terms of the agreement, the parties will collaborate to progress up to three programs based on Affibody molecules against undisclosed targets for respiratory diseases.
Chiesi will fund all discovery, development, and subsequent commercialization worldwide, in line with its strategy and commitment to providing best-in-class level of care for people living with respiratory diseases, going beyond treatments and focusing on the patient experience. Affibody has retained the option to co-promote in the Nordic region.
“This collaboration with Chiesi accelerates Affibody’s strategic development and further reinforces the competitiveness of our technology which has now been validated both clinically and commercially,” said David Bejker, CEO of Affibody AB.
“We acknowledge and appreciate Chiesi’s significant commitment and expertise in the development of inhaled drugs and believe that this partnership will help maximize the value of inhaled Affibody molecules.”
The small size of the company’s molecules combined with their robustness allows for the unique attributes explored under this collaboration, such as broad distribution and sustained exposure in the lung, as seen in preclinical models.
“Chiesi is committed to the research, discovery and development of novel innovative treatments in the respiratory diseases area which is a strategic priority for our organization. Our collaboration with Affibody adds an important new modality to our R&D portfolio that has particularly interesting properties for inhalation, and we look forward to developing new treatments for people with unmet medical needs based on this partnership,” said Thomas Eichholtz, head of global research and development at Chesi Group.
Under the terms of the agreement, Affibody is eligible to receive upfront, development, regulatory, and commercial milestone payments up to $214 million plus mid-single to low double-digit royalties on sales for the first program. The agreement can be expanded to a total of three programs in which case Affibody is eligible to receive upfront, development, regulatory, and commercial milestone payments up to $637 million plus mid-single to low double-digit royalties on sales.
About Affibody molecules
Affibody molecules are a novel class of antibody mimetics with characteristics surpassing monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) and antibody fragments.
The company has created a large library consisting of more than 10 billion Affibody molecules, all with unique binding sites, from which binders to given targets are selected. Affibody molecules are only 6 kDa in size, have an inert format (no Fc function), and have demonstrated clinical utilities as tumor-targeting moieties.
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