Germany’s Georg-August-Universitat Gottingen and University of Regensburg have inked exclusive licenses with the U.K.’s Medical Research Council Technology (MRCT) to develop a therapy for inflammatory and immune diseases based on the depletion of inflammatory monocytes. The first targets will be rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and multiple sclerosis (MS). MBM ScienceBridge GmbH, the TTO of the Georg-August-Universitat Gottingen, negotiated the license agreement, which covers technology developed by scientists at the Universities of Regensburg and Gottingen. The collaboration will enable MBM ScienceBridge GmbH to access the antibody humanization expertise of MRCT’s Centre for Therapeutics Discovery and the work of its Therapeutic Antibody Group. MRCT plans to take the lab compounds and turn them into clinical candidates, which will then be licensed to the pharmaceutical and biotech industry.
“This licensing deal is just one example of the innovative ways that MRCT is now exploiting both its antibody humanization and drug discovery capabilities,” says Dave Tapolczay, PhD, CEO of MRCT. “We can collaborate with other technology transfer organizations, on a shared risk basis, to develop novel antibodies and targets with therapeutic potential. When the resulting clinical candidate is subsequently licensed, both parties will not only accomplish their translational research aims but also share in its commercial success going forward.” MRCT receives an exclusive worldwide license to the related IP rights of the universities. MRCT and both universities will receive downstream payments dependent on successful development and out-licensing of the antibody.
Source: Healthcare Industry Today