First Clinical Milestone Achieved in Collaboration between AbCheck and Lilly


PLZEN, Czech Republic, January 31, 2016 - AbCheck s.r.o., a technology company focusing on the discovery and optimization of high-quality human antibodies, announced today the achievement of the first clinical milestone in its antibody discovery collaboration with Eli Lilly and Company of Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.A. The milestone, the commencement of patient enrollment for a Phase I study of an antibody discovered under the collaboration agreement, triggers an undisclosed milestone payment to AbCheck from Lilly. Further details about the study and antibody were not disclosed.

"This clinical milestone represents an important validation of our unique combination of technology platforms," commented Dr. Volker Lang, Managing Director of AbCheck. "We are very pleased our technology has enabled the discovery of another antibody that has advanced to the clinic, demonstrating again that our technology is reliably capable of delivering high-quality antibodies suitable for clinical development."

Under the collaboration agreement, AbCheck has used its antibody discovery libraries to deliver high-affinity, fully human antibodies against an undisclosed number of Lilly targets. The distinct human antibody libraries comprise a total of about 10 billion sequentially and structurally diverse antibodies. Lilly, which has full rights to any antibodies selected, pay AbCheck discovery fees and development milestone payments; other financial and deal terms were not disclosed.

About AbCheck
AbCheck discovers and optimizes human antibodies leveraging several proprietary platforms including in vitro and in vivo technologies. We use phage/yeast display libraries (AbSieve), mass humanization and antibody optimization (AbAccel) to provide high quality leads. Our technology platform can be used in conjunction with all antibody designs and allows selection of optimized leads from a huge number of variants. Flexibly adapting to our partners' needs, we offer a variety of business models, including deals without royalties. AbCheck has proven its capabilities in multiple partnerships throughout the US and Europe. AbCheck is a wholly owned subsidiary of Affimed GmbH.

For more information:
AbCheck s.r.o.
Dr. Volker Lang
Managing Director
+420 378 051500
v.lang@abcheck.eu