Molecular Partners AG today announced a collaborative research and license agreement with Centocor Research & Development, Inc

ZURICH, Switzerland | January 15, 2008 | Molecular Partners AG today announced a collaborative research and license agreement with Centocor Research & Development, Inc. The collaboration will focus on the development of DARPins (Designed Ankyrin Repeat Proteins), a novel class of therapeutic proteins to treat inflammatory diseases. Under the collaboration, Molecular Partners will apply its proprietary DARPin technology for the identification of DARPins to two undisclosed targets. Centocor will perform the preclinical and clinical development as well as commercialization of resulting products. Molecular Partners will receive an upfront payment of $5 million, additional research funding and license fees. Further, Molecular Partners will receive FTE payments for research done under the agreement. Centocor will have exclusive worldwide rights to develop and commercialize products discovered during the research term in exchange for future milestones. In addition, Molecular Partners is entitled to receive royalty payments on net sales of any product from this collaboration. The milestone and royalty payments compare to those of recent agreements in the field. Further details of the agreement have not been disclosed.

SOURCE: Molecular Partners AG

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