Ablynx announced that it is now eligible for a milestone payment of $3 million as a result of the initiation by Pfizer of a new phase I clinical study in healthy volunteers for a second Nanobody (PF-05230905) targeting tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha).

Pfizer’s lead anti-TNF-alpha Nanobody, ATN-103, is currently in a phase II study in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Pfizer has completed recruitment for the phase II study.

Ablynx entered into an exclusive research collaboration and license agreement in November 2006 with Wyeth, which was acquired by Pfizer. As part of the agreement, Pfizer now owns the exclusive worldwide development and commercialisation rights to the anti-TNF-alpha Nanobody programme. This deal has a potential value to Ablynx of $212.5 million in up-fronts and milestone payments. Ablynx will now have earned a total of $10 million in milestone payments from Pfizer. In addition, Ablynx is eligible to receive royalties on product sales.

Dr Edwin Moses, CEO and chairman of Ablynx commented: “Pfizer’s decision to advance a second anti-TNF-alpha Nanobody into the clinic underscores the importance and potential of this programme. We are very pleased with the progress made in this TNF-alpha partnership, and we continue to work with Pfizer to discover additional anti-TNF-alpha Nanobodies which could have important therapeutic applications. Pfizer is well placed to maximize the value of these Nanobody programmes based on their proven success in the TNF-alpha field and their significant biologics expertise. We would anticipate the study to be completed by the second quarter of 2011. There are now five Nanobodies in clinical development.”

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.