A Candidate for Parkinson’s Disease Treatment
Korea’s biotech venture ABL Bio has licensed out its new drug candidate to Sanofi, the world’s sixth-largest pharmaceutical company in France, in a deal worth up to 1.27 trillion won.
“We have signed a technology transfer contract with Sanofi for Parkinson’s disease treatment ABL301,” ABL Bio said in a press release. The total contract value is 1.272 trillion won (about US$1.06 billion). Sanofi secures the right to exclusively commercialize ABL301 around the world.
ABL Bio will receive 90 billion won in down payment, which will be paid regardless of the commercialization of the new drug candidate. The French pharmaceutical company will pay 54 billion won in milestones at each stage of the commercialization process. Royalties based on sales after product launches will be separately paid to ABL Bio.
ABL 301 is based on a dual antibody platform. It can attack the cause of the disease with weapons (antibodies) in both hands. One hand is loaded with antibodies that block proteins that cause Parkinson’s disease, while the other hand is loaded with antibodies that can penetrate blood-brain barriers (BBBs).
ABL301 is in the preclinical stage for humans. ABL Bio plans to apply for approval on phase 1 clinical trials from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) by the end of 2022.