Xencor Earns Second Boehringer Milestone

Xencor has received a milestone payment under a technology license agreement with Boehringer Ingelheim, triggered by a regulatory submission to begin Phase I trials of a novel monoclonal antibody that was optimized using Xencor’s XmAb antibody engineering technology. This is the second XmAb candidate entering clinical trials under the agreement.

The two companies entered a license agreement in 2007 to use Xencor’s XmAb antibody-dependent cell cytotoxicity (ADCC) technology to enhance the potency of therapeutic antibodies. XmAb engineered high ADCC Fc domains give antibodies more tumor killing power by improving their capacity to recruit the immune system to target cancer cells.

“The clinical pipeline of antibodies with Xencor’s Fc engineering technology continues to grow, and we now have six programs being developed in the clinic either by partners or on our own that employ our technology,” said Bassil Dahiyat, Ph.D., chief executive officer of Xencor. “Our XmAb technology provides key differentiating features such as heightened potency and convenient dosing for both novel antibodies and biosuperiors.”