Cambridge Antibody Technology signs new licence agreement

Cambridge Antibody Technology (CAT) has said it has signed a cross-licensing agreement with Molecular Partners, a Swiss biotech company, to share and develop each other’s technology with freedom.

For the development of therapeutic, prophylactic and diagnostic products, CAT will be able to access Molecular Partner’s Designed Repeat Protein technology, while Molecular Partners will gain from CAT’s ribosome display field technology to produce novel protein-based products.

Dr Patrick Amstutz, executive director at Molecular Partners, said his firm represents “an attractive partner” for companies looking for new novel binding proteins for therapeutic and diagnostic applications.

Alex Duncan, CAT’s senior vice president of discovery, added: “We view this cross-licence agreement with Molecular Partners as an important addition to our continuing commitment to increasing the range of technologies that CAT can apply to the development and commercialisation of biologics.”

“CAT not only obtains access to novel protein technologies, but also benefits from the exchange of intellectual property and the ability to work more closely with a new company in this exciting area,” he concluded.

Earlier this month, AstraZeneca, which is currently in process of completing a takeover bid for CAT, said it had sent compulsory acquisition notices to the remaining CAT shareholders who had not yet agreed to sell their shares. CAT and AstraZeneca have collaborated extensively in the past – a partnership that has made “excellent progress”.

CAT’s most notable drug discovery was Humira, which is licensed to Abbott Laboratories. It is Abbott’s largest-selling drug. Earlier this year, a settlement was reached between the two companies after a dispute over royalty payments for the anti-TNF treatment for rheumatoid arthritis.

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