Boehringer, F-star Enter Antibody Pact

Boehringer Ingelheim and F-star, an antibody engineering company based in Vienna, Austria, have entered a collaboration and license agreement for the discovery of new antibody-derived therapeutic products using F-star’s Modular Antibody Technology. Boehringer will select as many as seven targets, which may include multiple therapeutic areas, against which the two companies will work to discover Fcabs for further development and commercialization by Boehringer, either as therapeutic products or as modules for the generation of bispecific mAb2 products.

F-star will receive an initial technology access fee, research-based funding, and is eligible to receive additional license fees, development, regulatory and commercial milestones, as well as royalties on product sales. Boehringer can select several therapeutic products from each of the seven discovery programs. The total payments to F-star for each of these programs, excluding royalty payments, could reach as much as $246 million if commercial success of multiple therapeutic products is acheived.

Dr. Kevin FitzGerald, chief executive officer of F-star, said, “We are very pleased to have completed this agreement with Boehringer Ingelheim and are very excited by the prospect of jointly delivering novel therapeutic proteins to patients with poorly treated illnesses. This partnership will enable F-star to expand the exploitation of its antibody technology by combining with the impressive global research and development capabilities and resources of Boehringer Ingelheim.”