Allergan and Molecular Partners enter two new agreements

Allergan, Inc. and Molecular Partners AG announced two agreements to discover, develop, and commercialize DARPin products to treat serious ophthalmic diseases. Molecular Partners stand to gain an upfront $62.5 million in the deal and potentially up to $1.4 billion in aggregate development, regulatory and sales milestones, and tiered royalties.

There are two separate agreements related to the deal. One is an exclusive license agreement for the design, development, and commercialization of a potent dual anti-VEGF-A/PDGF-B DARPin ("MP0260"). That deal also includes the corresponding backups for exudative AMD treatment and other related conditions.

The second part of the agreement is an exclusive discovery alliance where the two companies will collaborate in the design and development of DARPins against selected eye disease-causing targets.

Scott M. Whitecup, M.D., executive vice president, research and development, chief scientific officer of Allergan, commented on the agreements,

"As a leader in ophthalmology, Allergan is committed to developing new treatments for serious eye diseases like AMD. We look forward to further developing a novel therapy that blocks both VEGF and PDGF, as a potential way to improve vision in patients with wet AMD."

And CEO of Molecular Partners, Christian Zahnd, Ph.D, also released a statement,

"With Allergan we have found the ideal partner to generate a strong pipeline of DARPin-based drug candidates with the goal to treat retinal and other severe ocular diseases. This significant expansion of our agreement together with the fast progress in the ongoing phase IIb development of AGN-150998 / MP0112 is a great validation of the DARPin approach."

For more information, read the full press release (Allergan and Molecular Partners Enter into Exclusive Alliance).

You May Also Be Interested In…

Allergan, Molecular Partners target retinal disease with agreement

Anti-PDGF, anti-VEGF combination demonstrates superior efficacy for wet AMD

Allergan and AAO offer student travel fellowships to attend AAO meeting

Allergan investigates needle-free Botox method

Milestone payment for sustained-delivery device