Ligand and Genagon ink drug development agreement

12-Feb-2019 - Last updated on 12-Feb-2019 at 15:37 GMT

(Image: Getty/ JacobStudio)

Ligand Pharmaceuticals enters an agreement with Genagon to provide access to its drug development platform capable of producing fully human antibodies.

Per the agreement, Genagon, a Swedish biotech focused on immuno-oncology development, will gain access to the Ligand’s full OmniAb platform for drug discovery which includes: OmniRat, OmniMouse, OmniFlic, and OmniChicken.

Genagon will use this access to develop antibody-based therapeutics for immuno-oncology targeting suppressive pathways on antigen presenting cells that the company has discovered.

John Higgins, CEO, Ligand said in a statement, “The OmniAb platform is innovative and it has proven itself to be a broadly-licensable technology that we will continue to leverage as we build our Shots-on-Goal business model.”

Higgins added that the platform is the only of its kind to offer access to “three species that produce fully-human antibodies.”

Ligand received an upfront payment and is eligible to receive development milestone payments and tiered royalties for each product incorporating an OmniAb-derived antibody. Genagon will be responsible for costs related to their programs.