Ablynx will receive an undisclosed milestone payment from Novartis. The payment has been triggered by successful delivery to Novartis of Nanobody candidates which met specific criteria. This will be the third milestone payment that Ablynx has received from Novartis since the initiation of the alliance between the companies.

Novartis and Ablynx entered into the alliance in December 2005 to discover and develop therapeutic Nanobodies against targets that are difficult to address with conventional antibodies and fragments. Under the terms of this ongoing agreement, Ablynx receives upfront fees, license fees and funding for research and development. In addition, Ablynx is eligible for milestone payments and royalties upon commercialisation. Novartis has exclusive rights to develop and commercialise the Nanobody products
resulting from the collaboration.

Edwin Moses, CEO and chairman of Ablynx, commented, “This is an important stage in our alliance with Novartis as these Nanobodies have shown significant activity in vivo compared with a benchmark antibody. We are very pleased with the progress made and look forward to reaching further key milestones under this alliance in the future.”

Founded in 2001 in Ghent, Belgium, Ablynx is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of Nanobodies, a novel class of therapeutic proteins based on single-domain antibody fragments, for a range of serious and life-threatening human diseases.