Regulatory Filings • Dec 11, 2014
Regulatory Filings
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Shire to take one or more collaborative product candidates into preclinical development
Breda, the Netherlands / Ghent, Belgium - arGEN-X N.V. (Euronext Brussels: ARGX), a clinicalstage biopharmaceutical company focused on creating and developing differentiated therapeutic antibodies for the treatment of cancer and severe autoimmune diseases, today announced that its partner Shire has exercised its option to advance into preclinical development one or more product candidates created out of a 2012 therapeutic antibody alliance between the two companies. As a result of the exercise, arGEN-X will receive a milestone payment from Shire.
Under the terms of the 2012 alliance, Shire was given the option to license promising leads of human antibody candidates identified and characterized by arGEN-X using the SIMPLE Antibody(TM) Platform. These therapeutic leads were based on targets provided to arGEN-X by Shire that are known to contribute to the pathophysiology of severe, rare genetic diseases.
"We are very pleased with Shire's decision to exercise its option to further develop product candidates that came out of our initial discovery deal. We believe this decision is a reflection of the strength of our technology platform and its ability to deliver viable therapeutic candidates that reach disease targets previously considered inaccessible," said Tim Van Hauwermeiren, CEO of arGEN-X. "We look forward to our continued work with Shire through the ongoing development and potential commercialization of product candidates born out of our therapeutic antibody alliance but also through our more recently established long-term strategic alliance."
"The success of our therapeutic antibody collaboration with arGEN-X has led us to exercise our first option to a commercial license," said Albert Seymour, Head of Research and Non-Clinical Development at Shire.
In June 2014, arGEN-X and Shire entered into a long-term strategic alliance which expanded upon the initial collaboration to include the use of the entire suite of arGEN-X human antibody discovery technologies.
arGEN-X is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on creating and developing differentiated therapeutic antibodies for the treatment of cancer and severe autoimmune diseases. arGEN-X has generated a pipeline of differentiated clinical and preclinical antibody candidates using its SIMPLE Antibody(TM) discovery platform. SIMPLE Antibody(TM) has a particular strength in addressing novel, complex disease targets that are difficult to access using established antibody technology platforms. Proprietary Fc engineering technologies (NHance® and ABDEG(TM)) and POTELLIGENT® technology (licensed from BioWa, Inc.) further enhance the therapeutic properties of SIMPLE Antibody(TM) leads in terms of tissue penetration/residence time in the body, ability to clear disease targets or pathogenic antibodies and cell-killing potency through Antibody-Dependent Cellmediated Cytotoxicity (ADCC), respectively. arGEN-X has leveraged its suite of antibody technologies in forging strategic collaborations with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to provide new approaches to diseases with unmet medical needs.
arGEN-X is listed on the Euronext Brussels exchange under the symbol ARGX.
SIMPLE Antibody(TM), NHance® and ABDEG(TM) are trademarks of arGEN-X NV POTELLIGENT® is a trademark of BioWa Inc.
Tim Van Hauwermeiren, Chief Executive Officer Eric Castaldi, Chief Financial Officer +32 (0)9 243 40 70 [email protected]
Mark Swallow/David Dible Citigate Dewe Rogerson +44 207 282 2948 [email protected]
Beth DelGiacco (US IR) Stern Investor Relations +1 212 362 1200 [email protected]
The contents of this announcement include statements that are, or may be deemed to be, "forwardlooking statements". These forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology, including the terms "believes", "estimates", "anticipates", "expects", "intends", "may", "will", or "should", and include statements arGEN-X makes concerning the intended results of its strategy. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties and readers are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. arGEN-X' actual results may differ materially from those predicted by the forward-looking statements. arGEN-X undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking statements, except as may be required by law.
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