Adimab, a technology leader in the discovery of fully human antibodies, announced the initiation of two independent collaborations with Biogen Idec and Novo Nordisk. Over the past two years, Adimab has established collaborations with multiple leading pharmaceutical companies, including: Merck, Roche, Novartis, Pfizer, Eli Lilly, Genentech, Human Genome Sciences, and now Biogen Idec and Novo Nordisk.

“Adimab is increasingly recognized as the premier antibody discovery technology in the industry,” said Tillman Gerngross, Adimab’s CEO and co-founder. “Our partners are looking for technologies that improve the lead discovery process and enhance their ability to quickly move novel antibodies into the clinic. Our technology is simply faster, dramatically reduces the risk of development failures, and generates higher quality leads even against challenging targets; in fact many of our partners come to us with targets that have failed using traditional phage display approaches.”

In addition to the two new collaborations, Adimab announced the achievement of several technical milestones from its  ongoing collaborations with Merck, Novartis, Pfizer and Human Genome Sciences.  Adimab also announced that Merrimack Pharmaceuticals has exercised a commercial license for a therapeutic programme (MM-151), which is scheduled to enter the clinic in the fall of 2011.

“The quality of our technology will always be the main driver for generating new collaborations, but our pharma partners are increasingly looking for unrestricted long-term access,” said Guy Van Meter, Adimab’s senior director of Business Development. “Adimab’s platform, unlike many other antibody discovery platforms, is free from target restrictions. In addition, Adimab provides its pharma partners with their own unique library diversity that is different from what their competitors have. Adimab’s ability to transfer that capability to them has generated considerable interest in the industry.”

Adimab and Biogen Idec of Weston, MA, have initiated a research programme whereby Adimab will use its proprietary discovery platform to identify fully human antibodies against two targets selected by Biogen Idec. The agreement gives Biogen Idec the option to commercialize antibodies generated from the collaboration. Adimab will receive upfront payments and preclinical milestones. In addition, Adimab is eligible to receive clinical development milestones and royalties on product sales.

Adimab and Novo Nordisk of Denmark, have initiated a research programme whereby Adimab will use its proprietary discovery platform to identify fully human antibodies against two targets selected by Novo Nordisk. The agreement gives Novo Nordisk the option to commercialize antibodies generated from the collaboration. Adimab will receive upfront payments and preclinical milestones. In addition, Adimab is eligible to receive clinical development milestones and royalties on product sales.