Teva has teamed up with Canadian biotech AbCellera for the discovery of rare monoclonal antibodies, using AbCellera’s high-throughput single cell antibody platform. This marks the second such deal for the Canadian firm in the space of a week.
Under the terms of the agreement, AbCellera will receive an undisclosed upfront payment, research payments, and is eligible to receive downstream milestones associated with the development and approval of therapeutic antibodies.
“We are pleased to work with AbCellera utilising this company’s novel biologics technology,” said Michael Hayden, president of global R&D and chief scientific officer at Teva. “This agreement will be complementary to our existing antibody discovery process with the potential to strengthen Teva’s capabilities in novel biologics discovery.”
“These are tough problems that need new technologies to move them forward,” said Dr Carl Hansen, president and CEO of AbCellera. “Our platform brings important advantages to enable the discovery of rare antibodies with defined specificity and functional activity against difficult membrane protein targets.”
Last week AbCellera also announced that it would be collaborating with Merck & Co. to generate antibodies against an undisclosed disease target, with AbCellera using its platform to identify antibodies that specifically modulate target function. The agreement grants Merck the option to develop antibody candidates identified through the collaboration for specified therapeutic applications.
