News Release - 12 May 2003
Micromet and ESBATech Enter Patent License Agreement on Single-Chain Antibodies
Munich, Germany and Zurich, Switzerland – Micromet AG and ESBATech AG entered into an intellectual property licence agreement, under which ESBATech receives a worldwide, non-exclusive license to Micromet’s and Enzon’s combined single-chain antibody (SCA) patents for use in ESBATech’s Immuna Technology, an SCA-based platform for the identification of SCAs with superior stability and expression properties. ESBATech also has the option to extend the scope of the license to use single-chain antibodies in the development of therapeutics. Under the terms of the agreement, Micromet will receive an upfront payment and annual maintenance fees from ESBATech. There will be additional milestones payments, in case ESBATech exercises the extended option. The revenues from ESBATech will be shared between Micromet and Enzon, who jointly market their complementary patent estates in the field of single-chain antibodies under a multi-year strategic collaboration, with Micromet being the exclusive marketing partner. In addition, ESBATech grants Micromet an option to access ESBATech’s proprietary fully human single-chain antibody frameworks. In case of the exercise of the option by Micromet, ESBATech is eligible for upfront and royalty payments. “One of our major objectives in marketing SCA intellectual property was to provide a defined point of access for third parties in order to help leverage the potential of the SCAtechnology for multiple applications including therapeutic and diagnostic products as well as the utilization of SCAs in display, protein chip or other enabling technologies,” said Christian Itin, Chief Business Officer of Micromet. “With the ESBATech agreement, Micromet has now initiated its broad licensing program. ESBATech’s Immuna platform provides a highly innovative screening approach suitable for both small molecule discovery and antibody engineering.” “Through this license agreement ESBATech consolidates its existing intellectual property position and gains a strong position for the formation of research collaborations as well as for ESBATech’s own projects using single-chain antibodies,” said Dominik Escher, Chief Executive Officer of ESBATech.
Contact for Micromet: Licensing Contact: Dr. Jens Hennecke Phone: +49 89 895277-295 Email: jens.hennecke@micromet.de Press Contact: Evelyn Wolf Phone: +49 89 895277-220 Email: evelyn.wolf@micromet.de Investor Contact: Ines-Regina Buth Phone: +49 89 895277-221 Email: ines-regina.buth@micromet.de Micromet AG Staffelseestr. 2 81477 Munich, Germany www.micromet.de
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Contact for ESBATech: Business Development: Dr. Kirsten Mundt Phone: +41 1 733 4901 Email: mundt@esbatech.com Investor Contact: Dr. Dominik Escher Phone: +41 1 733 4900 Email: escher@esbatech.com ESBATech AG Wagistr. 21 8952 Zurich-Schlieren Switzerland www.esbatech.com
Notes to Editors Background on Micromet AG Micromet AG, a private Munich-based biotechnology company, puts novel concepts in antibody therapy to work. Using proprietary technologies, the Company is building a strong pipeline of innovative drug candidates for the treatment of cancer, inflammation and autoimmune disease, with two of them currently in clinical trials. The Company has established a powerful drug development platform based on its BiTETM technology (“Bispecific T cell engagers”), a unique drug format that leverages the outstanding cytotoxic potential of T cells, the most powerful ‘killer cells’ of the human immune system. In addition Micromet is exploiting the potential of SCAs for the development of novel drug formats under a multiyear strategic collaboration with Enzon Inc. Micromet has integrated infrastructure and expertise in all disciplines of drug design and development. The Company has investments from leading international life science investors with a cumulative financing volume in excess of 77.5 million Euros. For further information, please visit the Company's web site at www.micromet.de
Background on ESBATech AG ESBATech AG is a drug discovery company applying cellular systems for the efficient hit and lead compound identification and optimization in the field of Protease, Secretase and Receptor Tyrosine Kinase (RTK) inhibitors. Small molecule inhibitor screens are run in house with the own compound library on an automated HTS. In addition, ESBATech has selected fully human antibody fragments that show a superior stability, solubility and production yield compared to conventional antibody fragments. These human antibodies are applied for therapeutic and diagnostic purposes, but also for target validation. For further information, please visit the Company's web site at www.esbatech.com
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