Profitable deal for Numab

Under the agreement, Ono Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (Ono) will obtain an option to acquire intellectual property rights to, and exclusive rights to develop and commercialize, the selected lead compound to be generated through this collaboration, which will exploit one of Ono’s novel therapeutic approaches in immuno-oncology. In exchange Numab will receive research funding and up to CHF 258 million in upfront and milestone payments plus tiered single to double digit royalties on sales. 

Oliver Middendorp co-CEO of Numab, said: “We are extremely pleased to start our collaboration with Ono, a company with a track record of scientific excellence and innovation, and that most recently made its mark by launching a new era in cancer treatment with the development of the first anti-PD-1 antibody, Nivolumab/Opdivo.” 

Hiromu Habashita, Corporate Officer, and Executive Director of Discovery & Research of Ono, said: “We highly value the capabilities of Numab’s multi-specific antibody platform. It is robust, and optimized to reproducibly yield product candidates with outstanding binding properties. We believe it is ideally suited to fuel our immuno-oncology drug discovery and consequently a multi-specific antibody to be generated through this collaboration will provide hope to sufferers of cancer.” 

About Numab 
Founded in 2011, Numab develops a proprietary pipeline of multi-specific biotherapeutics in immuno-oncology and immunology, and has several discovery partnerships with pharmaceutical companies. Numab’s plug-and-play multi-specifics platform allows for a highly rational and reproducible process that rapidly yields promising clinical candidates with new mechanisms of action, superior efficacy and a favorable safety profile.

About Ono PharmaceuticalCo., Ltd.
Ono Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., headquartered in Osaka, Japan, is an R&D-oriented pharmaceutical company committed to create innovative medicines in specific areas. It focuses especially on the oncology and diabetes areas.