- The second project aims to develop a bispecific antibody with potential applications in solid tumors
- Alligator and Orion each to provide validated monospecific binders for one of the two targets
Lund, Sweden, January 2, 2023 – Alligator Bioscience (Nasdaq Stockholm: ATORX) today announces an expansion to its research collaboration and license agreement with Orion Corporation, a global pharmaceutical company based in Finland, to discover and develop together new bispecific antibody cancer therapeutics.
The collaboration has been expanded to add the development of a second bispecific antibody using Alligator’s proprietary bispecific RUBY™ platform, where Alligator will provide validated monospecific binders for one target and Orion will do the same for the other target.
”We are excited to start another joint project with Alligator Bioscience and continue our development of new immuno-oncology treatments, which has started very well.” said Outi Vaarala, Senior Vice President, R&D, of Orion Corporation.
"Our collaboration with Orion is progressing extremely well, with both companies making meaningful contributions to the first program and complementing each other's scientific expertise," said Søren Bregenholt, PhD, CEO of Alligator Bioscience. "The initiation of this second project is a testament to the strength of Alligator’s technology platform, including our bispecific RUBY™ format."
Under the initial agreement signed in 2021, Alligator employs its proprietary phage display libraries and RUBY™ bispecific platform to develop immuno-oncology product candidates based on design criteria identified by Orion. Alligator remains eligible for development, approval and sales milestone payments of up to €469 million across the three potential programs, in addition to royalties if Orion exercises its options to continue development and commercialization of the resulting product candidates.
The initiation of the second program provides Alligator Bioscience with an upfront payment of €1.25 million, including the fee for its validated binders being made available, with an additional €500,000 payment being due to Alligator Bioscience when the technical feasibility of the bispecific antibody has been demonstrated in relation to the validated binders.