BRUSSELS, Belgium and SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., March 19, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- UCB and Five Prime Therapeutics announced today that they have entered into a strategic collaboration for the discovery of innovative biologics targets and therapeutics in the areas of fibrosis-related inflammatory diseases and central nervous system (CNS) disorders. This collaboration gives UCB exclusive access to FivePrime's drug discovery platforms in up to five programs to identify new targets and disease mechanisms.
Under the terms of the agreement, UCB and FivePrime will collaborate to design assays to screen FivePrime's comprehensive, proprietary library of approximately 5600 functional secreted proteins and transmembrane receptor proteins (ligand traps). FivePrime will apply its technology platforms to identify potential drug targets and drug candidates in fibrosis-related inflammatory diseases and CNS disorders. UCB has an option to license exclusively rights to selected protein targets discovered by FivePrime in the collaboration.
FivePrime will be eligible to receive approximately $16 million from a combination of an upfront fee, technology access fees, research funding and success-based research milestone payments. In addition, FivePrime would be eligible for potential option exercise fees and product-related milestone payments, as well as tiered royalties on global net sales on future products related to each licensed protein.
Ismail Kola, Executive Vice President and President, NewMedicines at UCB said, "The collaboration with FivePrime is another example of UCB building supernetworks of innovation that aim to create superior and sustainable value for patients. FivePrime's protein library of nearly every antibody target and ligand trap is unique in the industry, and FivePrime's in vitro and in vivo screening technologies offer powerful means of finding new targets and biologic medicines that are integral to supporting UCB's strategy aiming to improve the lives of people living with severe diseases."
"We are delighted to enter into this strategic collaboration with UCB to discover new protein targets and test potential drug candidates for fibrosis-related inflammatory diseases and CNS-related disorders. UCB is a global leader in the research and development of biologics and brings tremendous expertise to this collaboration," said Lewis T. "Rusty" Williams, MD, PhD, Founder, President and CEO of FivePrime.
About UCB
UCB, Brussels, Belgium (www.ucb.com) is a global biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of innovative medicines and solutions to transform the lives of people living with severe diseases of the immune system or of the central nervous system. With 9000 people in approximately 40 countries, the company generated revenue of EUR 3.4 billion in 2012. UCB is listed on Euronext Brussels (symbol: UCB).
About FivePrime
Five Prime Therapeutics, Inc. is a clinical-stage, privately held, biotechnology company discovering and developing innovative antibody and protein therapeutics. Using its integrated discovery platform, FivePrime is building a pipeline of oncology and immunology drug candidates. FivePrime mines its comprehensive library of secreted and extracellular human proteins to screen for medically relevant new therapeutic proteins and antibody targets. FivePrime has entered into a collaboration agreement to develop and commercialize its lead product, FP-1039, with Human Genome Sciences, Inc. (which GlaxoSmithKline has acquired) in the United States, Canada and the EU. FivePrime has also established significant collaborations for the discovery of innovative biologic targets and therapeutics in specific therapeutic areas with several leading pharmaceutical companies, including Pfizer, Centocor and GlaxoSmithKline. For more information about FivePrime, please visit FivePrime's web site at www.fiveprime.com.
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