Raven Biotechnologies Inc., a privately held company focused on the development of monoclonal antibody therapeutics (MAbs) for treating cancer, has entered into an agreement with Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, a division of Wyeth, to develop and commercialise selected MAbs from Raven's portfolio of antibodies to a specified target.

The agreement gives Wyeth the option to obtain an exclusive license to develop and commercialise therapies arising from the use of these designated Raven antibodies. Terms of the agreement, which include an upfront payment, milestone payments and royalties based upon the net sales of products developed from the Raven technology, were not disclosed.

The antibodies included in the agreement were discovered using Raven proprietary immunization technology and tumour-derived stem-cell lines, and were screened to select antibodies that are active alone or in a conjugated form.

"We are pleased to partner with Wyeth and believe this agreement further validates our approach," said George F Schreiner, MD, PhD, Raven's CEO. "Raven proprietary antibody discovery processes rapidly create monoclonal antibodies and allow researchers to quickly assess the importance of those proteins in the disease process."