Xoma Ltd., a leader in the discovery and development of therapeutic antibodies, announced that it has sold its royalty interest in Cimzia (certolizumab pegol) marketed by UCB S.A. for $4 million to an undisclosed buyer. The manufacture of Cimzia is covered by a license to Xoma's Bacterial Cell Expression technology. The licensed US patents will expire in 2014. Cimzia is a pegylated antibody fragment that targets tumour necrosis factor alpha. It is approved in the US to treat Crohn's disease and rheumatoid arthritis.

"The sale of our royalty interest in Cimzia provides non-dilutive funding to support the development of Xoma 052 for type 2 diabetes and other diseases and our preclinical programmes," said Steven B. Engle, chairman and CEO of Xoma .

Xoma discovers, develops and manufactures novel antibody therapeutics for its own proprietary pipeline as well as through license and collaborative agreements with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, and under its contracts with the US government.