AstraZeneca unit buys global rights to SBI drug

Source: Healthcare Digital

Date :12/09/2008 09:10:44

AstraZeneca plc has entered into a licensing and collaboration agreement with SBI Biotech Co Ltd, a subsidiary of SBI Holdings Inc, to develop and commercialise the company’s anti-ILT7 protein.

ILT7 is an experimental antibody for the potential treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and other autoimmune diseases.

MedImmune, the global biologics unit of AstraZeneca, will pay a one-time fee plus other payments based on the drug's success.

The total will exceed 10 billion yen if the drug reaches the market, Tetsuya Totsuka, Chief Executive of SBI's biotechnology unit, said in a statement.

AstraZeneca will begin development by testing ILT7 on monkeys, he said.

It has global rights to any resulting product candidates and will be responsible for preclinical and clinical development, as well as all future development, manufacturing, sales and marketing activities, the statement read.