Tuesday, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (REGN) announced a five year extension and $60 million additional yearly funding to an existing research contract with European drug maker- Sanofi-Aventis (SNY), towards developing therapeutic monoclonal antibodies.
The November 2007 collaboration to discover, develop and commercialize fully-human therapeutic monoclonal antibodies was scheduled to expire at year-end 2012.
Under the extension, Paris, France-based Sanofi-aventis will increase its annual funding commitment from $100 million to $160 million beginning in 2010. The research funding will now extend through 2017, to which, Sanofi can add another three years for further antibody development and preclinical activities.
In addition, Regeneron can receive up to a total of $250 million of sales milestone payments when collaboration products achieve certain aggregate annual ex-U.S. sales levels, starting at $1 billion.
The amendments, however, signify no change to the financial terms governing the development and commercialization of antibody drugs agreed on the November 2007 deal. Sanofi-Aventis still maintains the exclusive option to co-develop the antibodies with Regeneron.
When commercialized, profits from the sale of these antibodies in the U.S. will be shared equally by both the firms, while international profits will be split on a pre-determined sliding scale with Sanofi-aventis' share ranging from 65% to 55%, noted the company.
To date, four therapeutic antibodies have been advanced into clinical development under the deal, and the companies have filed an IND for a fifth additional antibody. The antibodies are set to treat disorders like rheumatoid arthritis, advanced malignancies and pain.
Monoclonal antibodies or MAB's, popularly called 'magic bullets', are antibodies targeted to one specific antigen within the body, facilitating easier detection and treatment, in the case of diseases.
Commonly produced from animals, these antibodies tend to raise adverse immune reactions when they enter human physiology, when the body recognizes them as foreign. Completely human antibodies, on the other hand, overlook this problem by eliminating non-human proteins in the final product.
Tarrytown, New York- based Regeneron uses VelocImmune technology to produce MABs, employing genetically engineered mice whose antibody genes are replaced with human counterparts. The antibodies thus generated from them, resemble those from humans, and so, do not evoke any adverse response when administered.
REGN finished Tuesday's regular trading sessions up 12 cents or 0.77%, at $15.80 on the Nasdaq. SNY finished the same sessions down 2 cents or 0.05% at $37.89 on the NYSE.
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