Adimab, Inc., a technology leader in the discovery of fully human antibodies, announced the initiation of three new independent research collaborations with Eli Lilly, Genentech, and Human Genome Sciences. Over the past 18 months Adimab has established collaborations with several leading Pharmaceutical companies including: Merck, Roche, Novartis, Pfizer, and now Eli Lilly, Genentech, and Human Genome Sciences.

“As more companies develop therapeutic leads against the same validated disease targets, leading Pharma companies are actively seeking out technologies that give them a meaningful advantage and Adimab’s deal flow speaks for itself,” said Tillman Gerngross, Adimab’s CEO and co-founder. “In this highly competitive environment, having access to the best technology becomes essential, not optional. Our ability to provide high quality leads in a matter of months is driving the demand for our technology.”

In addition to the three new collaborations, Adimab announced the achievement of a technical milestone in its ongoing collaboration with Novartis, which was initiated in June of 2010. Adimab also announced that Merck has exercised its option to start an additional project around a 2nd target.

“Adimab’s platform is unique in comparison to any other antibody discovery technology. By incorporating target biology into the selection process we are able to generate very high quality leads in a short timeframe,” said Guy Van Meter, Adimab’s senior director of business development. “The most sophisticated buyers in the industry understand the impact Adimab could have on their pipelines. Since launching the platform in June of 2009, we have closed a total of 15 funded discovery programmes, including 10 new programs in 2010.”

Adimab and Lilly have entered into a collaboration whereby Adimab will use its proprietary discovery platform to identify fully human antibodies against two targets selected by Lilly. For each target, the agreement grants Lilly the right to research antibodies generated from the collaboration for potential use as therapeutic products. Under the terms of the agreement, Adimab will receive various upfront fees including research fees and technical milestones. In addition, for each target, Lilly will have the sole option to exclusively license antibodies from the collaboration, and if Lilly were to exercise the option for a particular target, then Adimab would receive license fees, clinical milestones and royalties on therapeutic product sales for such target.

Adimab and Genentech, Inc., a member of the Roche Group have initiated a research program whereby Adimab will use its proprietary yeast-based antibody discovery platform to identify fully human antibodies against two targets selected by Genentech. Under the terms of the agreement, Genentech has rights to commercialize antibodies generated from the collaboration. Adimab will receive upfront payments, preclinical milestones and licensing fees. In addition, Adimab is eligible to receive clinical development milestones and royalties on therapeutic and diagnostic product sales.

Adimab and Human Genome Sciences, of Rockville MD, have initiated a research programme whereby Adimab will use its proprietary discovery platform to identify fully human antibodies against one target selected by Human Genome Sciences. The agreement gives Human Genome Sciences 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’s integrated antibody discovery and optimization platform provides unprecedented speed from antigen to purified, full-length human IgGs. Adimab offers fundamental advantages by delivering diverse panels of therapeutically relevant antibodies that meet the most aggressive standards for affinity, epitope coverage, species cross-reactivity and expressibility. Adimab enables its partners to rapidly expand their biologics pipelines through a broad spectrum of technology access arrangements.