Harbour Antibodies signs agreement with Lilly
Agreement aimed at validating a transgenic mouse platform for the generation of human antibodies
Harbour Antibodies BV, an Erasmus MC spin-off company announced today the completion of a non-exclusive research and licence agreement with Eli Lilly and Company (“Lilly”), a global pharmaceutical company, to generate and develop human therapeutic antibodies comprising immunoglobulin heavy and light chains (H2L2) using one of Harbour’s transgenic mouse antibody discovery platforms.
Under the terms of the agreement Harbour will receive an upfront payment, success-based fees, and potential downstream product milestones and royalties. Specific financial terms were not disclosed.
“We are delighted to partner with Lilly,” said Professor Frank Grosveld, The Head of Cell Biology and Genetics at ErasmusMC, and the Chief Scientific Officer of Harbour Antibodies BV. “Transgenic mice utilise the natural immune response and have proved over the last decade to be a very reliable route to discover potential human antibody based medicines. Recent industry acquisitions leave scope for new transgenic mouse platforms to meet the continuing clinical need for therapeutic antibody discovery. The Harbour H2L2 transgenic mouse platform will meet this need”.
About Harbour Antibodies BV:?Harbour Antibodies BV was founded in December 2006 as a virtual company to commercialise transgenic mouse antibody platforms being developed at the Department of Cell Biology Erasmus MC. In addition to the derivation of human H2L2 antibodies, transgenic mouse platforms have been developed for the derivation of novel second generation human and camelised human heavy chain only antibodies (HCAbs), soluble human VH domains and VH domain antibody complexes for use both as research tools and to meet unmet clinical need. The proprietary transgenic mouse platforms are protected by filed and granted patent applications in the major and the expanding healthcare markets. Harbour plans to partner broadly across the Pharmaceutical industry, and provide access to the transgenic mouse antibody platforms under MTA to academic partners where target antigens provided the basis of novel strategies for clinical intervention.
Further information on the Harbour technology platforms and management team can be found on the company’s website at www.harbourantibodies.com.?
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