Numab and Ono Pharmaceutical Enter into a Research and Option Agreement

Numab Therapeutics AG has announced a research and option agreement with Ono Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. for the identification of a multi-specific antibody candidate for development in immuno-oncology.

Under the agreement, Ono will obtain an option to acquire intellectual property rights to, and exclusive rights to develop and commercialize, the selected lead compound to be generated through this collaboration, which will exploit one of Ono’s novel therapeutic approaches in immuno-oncology. In exchange Numab will receive research funding and up to CHF 258 million in upfront and milestone payments plus tiered single to double digit royalties on sales.

Oliver Middendorp co-CEO of Numab, said: "We are extremely pleased to start our collaboration with Ono, a company with a track record of scientific excellence and innovation, and that most recently made its mark by launching a new era in cancer treatment with the development of the first anti-PD-1 antibody, Nivolumab/Opdivo."

Hiromu Habashita, Corporate Officer, and Executive Director of Discovery & Research of Ono, said: "We highly value the capabilities of Numab’s multi-specific antibody platform. It is robust, and optimized to reproducibly yield product candidates with outstanding binding properties. We believe it is ideally suited to fuel our immuno-oncology drug discovery and consequently a multi-specific antibody to be generated through this collaboration will provide hope to sufferers of cancer."