Stockholm, Sweden, November 2, 2018 – BioArctic AB (publ) (Nasdaq Stockholm: BIOA B) announced today that the company has received a Notice of Option Exercise under the Research, Development, Option and License Agreement dated as of September 15, 2016 between AbbVie (NYSE: ABBV) and BioArctic. The option is subject to filing and clearance under the US Antitrust legislation.
BioArctic and AbbVie, a global biopharmaceutical company, in 2016 entered into a strategically important collaboration to develop and commercialize BioArctic’s portfolio of antibodies directed against alpha-synuclein for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease and other potential indications.
Parkinson’s disease is the second most-common neurological disease in the world, and is expected to grow from approximately 6.2 million patients to 12.9 million by 2040.1 While mutations in alpha-synuclein gene are strongly linked to the development of Parkinson’s disease in a very small number of patients with an inherited form of the disaease, alpha synuclein accumulation in the form of toxic aggregates and intracellular deposits (Lewy Bodies) is a key neuropathological feature of the more common sporadic Parkinson’s disease.
BAN0805 is the most advanced of the BioArctic alpha-synuclein antibodies, that are being developed as a disease modifying treatment of Parkinson’s disease with a goal to potentially impact disease progression. Preparation of an IND-application is ongoing in order to start the first clinical study with BAN0805 in the US 2019.
Subject to antitrust clearance, the option to exercise the license triggers a milestone payment of MUSD 50 and the total aggregate value of the license agreement is up to MUSD 755, plus royalties. Previously MUSD 80 have been received.
“AbbVie has shown a strong commitment to Parkinson’s disease and I am proud that they have chosen to exercise the option to license BioArctic’s alpha-synuclein antibodies. I am looking forward to continuing the successful partnership with the ambition to deliver a new innovative disease modifying treatment to improve the quality of life for the large number of patients suffering from Parkinson’s disease,” said Gunilla Osswald, CEO at BioArctic.
For more information, please contact
Gunilla Osswald, PhD, CEO, BioArctic AB
E-mail: gunilla.osswald@bioarctic.se
Telephone: + 46 8 695 69 30
Christina Astrén, Director IR & Communications, BioArctic AB
E-mail: christina.astren@bioarctic.se
Telephone: + 46 70 835 43 36
This information is information that BioArctic AB (publ) is obliged to disclose pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation. The information was released for public disclosure, through the agency of the contact persons above, on November 2, 2018, at 02.30 a.m. CET.
About Parkinson’s disease
Parkinson’s disease is a progressive disease of the nervous system that is associated with reduced levels of dopamine in the brain. Tremor and movement disturbances are the pathological hallmarks of the disease, but it is also characterized by dementia, depression, sleep disturbance and other symptoms. As the second most common neurodegenerative disease, after Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease affects a large number of individuals and their families. Many who fall ill are still at working age resulting in considerable financial consequences for the individual and society. Patients with Parkinson’s disease suffer from an extensive loss of nerve cells in a part of the brain associated with movement. These nerve cells contain the so called Lewy bodies consisting of aggregated misfolded alpha-synuclein that are associated with cell loss. Alpha-synuclein aggregates can also be released from the cells and travel to neighboring cells, whereby the disease is spread from one area of the brain to another. Research has shown that mutations in the alpha-synuclein gene lead to Parkinson’s disease.
1) Dorsey and Bloem, JAMA Neurology 2018;75:9-10
About BioArctic
BioArctic AB (publ) is a Swedish research-based biopharma company focusing on disease-modifying treatments and reliable biomarkers and diagnostics for neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. The company also develops a potential treatment for Complete Spinal Cord Injury. BioArctic focuses on innovative treatments in areas with high unmet medical needs. The company was founded in 2003 based on innovative research from Uppsala University, Sweden. Collaborations with universities are of great importance to the company together with our strategically important global partners in the Alzheimer (Eisai) and Parkinson (AbbVie) projects. The project portfolio is a combination of fully funded projects run in partnership with global pharmaceutical companies and innovative in-house projects with significant market- and out-licensing potential. BioArctic’s B-share is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm Mid Cap (ticker: BIOA B). For more information about BioArctic, please visit www.bioarctic.com.
About AbbVie
AbbVie is a global, research and development-based biopharmaceutical company committed to developing innovative advanced therapies for some of the world’s most complex and critical conditions. The company’s mission is to use its expertise, dedicated people and unique approach to innovation to markedly improve treatments across four primary therapeutic areas: immunology, oncology, virology and neuroscience. In more than 75 countries, AbbVie employees are working every day to advance health solutions for people around the world. For more information about AbbVie, please visit us at www.abbvie.com.