Xoma Ltd. announced that it has licensed to Pfizer Inc., the world's largest research-based biomedical and pharmaceutical company, non-exclusive, worldwide rights to Xoma's patented bacterial cell expression (BCE) technology for phage display and other research, development and manufacturing of antibody products.
Under the terms of the agreement, Xoma will receive an upfront, non-dilutive cash payment of $30 million and milestone, royalty and other fees on future sales of all products subject to this license, including products currently in late-stage clinical development.
Steven Engle, chief executive officer and president of Xoma, said, "This agreement provides clear validation of Xoma's antibody research and affirms Xoma's ability to capitalize on the value of our patented technologies. We continue to execute our strategy of using our technologies to generate high-margin revenue in support of our programs, including our proprietary product pipeline. We are very pleased that Pfizer has chosen to incorporate our BCE technology into their global drug development effort, and we look forward to what we anticipate will be a mutually beneficial relationship.
"BCE is an enabling technology for antibody phage display discovery and for the manufacture of bacterially expressed therapeutic antibody products," Engle continued. "It is a proven technology for commercially significant therapeutic antibodies as demonstrated by the approval of Lucentis for wet age-related macular degeneration. With more than 45 license agreements in place, BCE continues to be a seminal enabling technology in antibody discovery and production."
Xoma has licensed its BCE technology to many major pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, including Merck & Co., Inc., Centocor, Inc. and Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. for use in the development and manufacturing of marketed and investigational therapeutic antibody products. Under a license agreement with Genentech, Inc., Xoma currently receives royalties for their marketed therapeutic antibody product, Lucentis which has been approved for the treatment of wet age-related macular degeneration since 2006. Lucentis (ranibizumab) is an antibody fragment to Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF). BCE technology is also employed for the production of Cimzia (certolizumab, CDP-870), UCB S.A.'s anti-TNF (tumour necrosis factor) alpha antibody fragment, which has been submitted for regulatory approval for Crohn's disease. Cimzia has had positive results in two phase III trials in rheumatoid arthritis and in one mid-stage clinical trial in psoriasis.
Bacterial cell expression technology (BCE) is an enabling technology used to discover and screen, as well as develop and manufacture, recombinant antibodies for commercial purposes. BCE is also a key technology used in multiple systems for high-throughput screening of antibody domains. Expression of antibodies by phage display technology, for example, depends on the expression and secretion of antibody domains from bacteria as properly folded, functional proteins.
Xoma scientists were the first to demonstrate the secretion of antibody domains directly from the bacterial cells as fully functional, properly folded molecules. Xoma has received ten US patents to date relating to aspects of its BCE system, including six patents that broadly cover the secretion of immunoglobulins from bacteria, including antibody fragments such as Fab and single-chain antibodies. Corresponding foreign patents have also been granted. Xoma's intellectual property estate is applicable to the practice of antibody phage display and other antibody screening applications.
Xoma is a leader in the discovery, development and manufacture of therapeutic antibodies, with a therapeutic focus that includes cancer and immune diseases.