AbbVie and Immunome, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company that utilizes its human memory B cell platform to discover and develop first-in-class antibody therapeutics, have established a worldwide collaboration and option agreement directed to the discovery of up to 10 novel antibody-target pairs arising from three specified tumor types using Immunome’s Discovery Engine.
“Partnering with Immunome represents AbbVie’s commitment to developing and commercializing novel treatment approaches for solid tumors,” said Steve Davidsen, Ph.D., vice president, oncology discovery research, AbbVie. “Immunome’s approach has the potential to unlock novel cancer biology and yield multiple therapeutic candidates. We look forward to utilizing their Discovery Engine to enhance our existing oncology pipeline.”
“This collaboration with AbbVie, a true leader in the development and commercialization of oncology therapeutics, demonstrates the strength of Immunome’s Discovery Engine,” said Purnanand Sarma, Ph.D., president and CEO of Immunome. “AbbVie shares our vision of harnessing the power of the human immune response to yield novel and first-in-class therapeutics that represent a shift in the cancer discovery paradigm.
“We are delighted to be working with AbbVie and look forward to leveraging their vast development and commercialization expertise in bringing new therapies to patients suffering from life-threatening cancers. This collaboration fits well within Immunome’s strategy to maximize the new drug discovery potential of our Discovery Engine through partnerships across multiple therapeutic segments, in addition to advancing our own proprietary pipeline.”
Under the terms of the agreement, Immunome will grant AbbVie the option to purchase worldwide rights for up to 10 novel target-antibody pairs arising from the selected tumors. Immunome will receive an upfront payment of $30m and will be eligible to receive additional platform access payments in the aggregate amount of up to $70m based on AbbVie’s election for Immunome to continue research using its Discovery Engine. Immunome is also eligible to receive development and first commercial sale milestones of up to $120m per target with respect to certain products derived from target-antibody pairs that AbbVie elects to purchase, with potential for further sales-based milestones as well as tiered royalties on global sales.
