On February 2, 2016 Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ: LGND) reported it has entered into a worldwide license agreement with Tizona Therapeutics, Inc., an immunology company developing next generation therapies for cancer and autoimmune disease(Press release, Ligand, FEB 2, 2016, View Source [SID:1234508944]). Under the license, Tizona will use the OmniRat, OmniMouse and OmniFlic platforms to generate fully human mono- and bispecific antibodies. Ligand will be eligible to receive annual platform access payments as well as patent filing fees, clinical milestone payments and royalties for each successful OmniAb antibody. Tizona will be responsible for all costs related to the program.
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"We have now added Tizona as a new partner as they expand their immuno-oncology and inflammation drug discovery efforts," said John Higgins, Chief Executive Officer of Ligand Pharmaceuticals. "This is the second licensing deal struck by Ligand on OmniAb and the 18th commercial partner overall, which represents a strong continued momentum for the technology. We believe the OmniAb platform has great potential to enable the discovery and development of novel medicines to meet major medical needs."
About OmniAb
OmniAb includes three transgenic animal platforms for producing mono- and bispecific human therapeutic antibodies. OmniRat is the industry’s first human monoclonal antibody technology based on rats. It has a complete immune system with a diverse antibody repertoire and generates antibodies with human idiotypes as effectively as wild-type animals make rat antibodies. OmniMouse is a transgenic mouse that complements OmniRat and expands epitope coverage. OmniFlic is an engineered rat with a fixed light chain for development of bispecific, fully human antibodies. The three platforms use patented technology, have broad freedom to operate and deliver fully human antibodies with high affinity, specificity, expression, solubility and stability.