AstraZeneca announced a five-year research and development alliance with Cambridge Antibody Technology (CAT) in monoclonal antibody research, principally in inflammatory disorders, including respiratory diseases.

AstraZeneca will pay £75 million in cash for an issue of 10,217,983 new ordinary shares in CAT, representing a 19.9 per cent shareholding. The equity subscription requires the approval of CAT shareholders.

The alliance offers an excellent balance and fit between CAT's established expertise and capabilities in monoclonal antibody generation and optimisation, together with their process technology and early clinical skills, with AstraZeneca's drug development capabilities and global market strength and representation.

Both AstraZeneca and CAT will contribute targets to the alliance, which will be co-funded and co-managed by the partners. A minimum of 25 programmes in discovery will be initiated during the five-year duration of the Discovery phase, AstraZeneca said in a release.

CAT will be principally responsible for antibody discovery, manufacturing process development and the supply of material for exploratory clinical trials. AstraZeneca will be principally responsible for translational biology, clinical development programmes, regulatory filings and commercialisation. Joint teams will be established to oversee the full discovery and development process.

Sir Tom McKillop, chief executive of AstraZeneca, said: "I see this alliance with CAT as a major component of AstraZeneca's strategy to develop new therapeutics for inflammatory and respiratory diseases. Both partners are combining their expertise and making a significant commitment of resources to the alliance".

Peter Chambré, CEO of CAT, commented, "This innovative alliance with a world leader in the field of inflammatory diseases represents a major strategic move by both companies. Not only will it enable CAT to deploy its full range of capabilities and expertise in the early stages of product development, but it will also allow us to enhance our capabilities in the later stages and, for the first time, potentially participate in product commercialisation."

Dr John Patterson, executive VP, Product Strategy & Licensing, AstraZeneca, said: "We are delighted to be joining other shareholders in this innovative biopharmaceutical company and are underpinning the closeness of the alliance and strategic importance to both parties by making a significant equity investment in CAT."

This is the second such research alliance in monoclonal antibodies agreed by AstraZeneca in just over a year. Last October, the company announced a major agreement with Abgenix, Inc. for monoclonal antibody research in oncology.