Exton-based Immunome and North Chicago-based AbbVie have partnered to discover up to 10 novel antibody-target pairs arising from three specified tumor types using Immunome’s Discovery Engine.
Discovery Engine identifies novel therapeutic antibodies and their targets by leveraging memory B cells, elements in the immune system that produce specific, high-affinity antibodies that bind to cancer antigens or pathogens.
Under the terms of the agreement, Immunome grants AbbVie the option to purchase worldwide rights for $30 million for up to 10 novel target-antibody pairs arising from the selected tumors.
Immunome will be eligible to receive additional platform access payments of up to $70 million based on AbbVie’s election to continue research using Discovery Engine. In addition, Immunome is eligible to receive development and first commercial sale milestones of up to $120 million per target regarding certain products derived from target-antibody pairs that AbbVie elects to purchase. There is a potential for further sales-based milestones and tiered royalties on global sales.
“This collaboration fits well within Immunome’s strategy to maximize the new drug discovery potential of our Discovery Engine through partnerships across multiple therapeutic segments, in addition to advancing our own proprietary pipeline,” Purnanand Sarma, Immunome president and CEO, said.
AbbVie creates drugs for various medical specialties.
Immunome is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing oncology therapeutics.