Astellas agrees research alliance with Evec

Astellas has entered into partnership with Evec on the development of a promising new drug candidate for infectious diseases.

The agreement will see Astellas acquiring exclusive global development, manufacturing and commercialisation rights to Evec's fully-human antibody, which is currently undergoing pre-clinical testing.

Evec will be paid an upfront fee of 600 million yen (4.92 million pounds) in exchange for these rights, while it will also be entitled to milestone-based payments of up to 13 billion yen, plus royalties on potential sales.

According to Astellas, this purchase will help the company to strengthen its portfolio in the infectious disease field, which has been identified as a key priority for the firm.

A statement said: "Astellas is committed to becoming a global category leader by establishing a business model in urology and immunology, including transplantation and infectious diseases, oncology, neuroscience, DM complications and metabolic diseases."

Last month, Property Week announced that Astellas is to relocate its UK base of operations to a larger site in Chertsey in the coming months.