BioInvent International AB announced that it has signed an agreement to extend its existing collaboration with an undisclosed Japanese pharmaceutical group.

The extended collaboration comes as the Japanese company intends to take a lead candidate into preclinical development, within the area of inflammation. This lead candidate was discovered using BioInvent's n-CoDeR antibody library.  Under the extended agreement BioInvent will do stable cell line and process development and clinical manufacturing of the therapeutic candidate.

The partner will fund all development work performed by BioInvent. BioInvent will also continue to receive milestone payments and royalties upon successful development and commercialization.

The alliance was initiated in December 2008. Under the terms of that agreement, the two companies collaborated to develop of an antibody based drug sourced from Bioinvent's n-CoDeR antibody library. The success of this collaboration in delivering a lead therapeutic candidate triggered earlier this year an undisclosed milestone payment to BioInvent.

Svein Mathisen, CEO of BioInvent, commented: “This collaboration has been very successful and we are happy to further strengthen and progress our partnership. The structure of this deal exemplifies BioInvents strength as a partner, not only providing a quality antibody discovery capability, but also support and expertise in product development and manufacture. BioInvent is a strong partner throughout the development process for therapeutic antibody drugs.”

BioInvent International AB, is a research-based pharmaceutical company that focuses on developing antibody drugs. The company currently has four clinical development projects within the areas of thrombosis, cancer and atherosclerosis. The company has signed various strategic alliances to strengthen the product pipeline and increase the likelihood of success. These partners include Genentech, Human Genome Sciences, Roche and ThromboGenics.