Under the terms of the agreement, Micromet will receive an upfront license fee of €5 million (approximately $7 million), and is eligible to receive R&D reimburse-ments and payments upon the achievement of development milestones of more than €120 million (approximately $160 million) in the aggregate. In addition, Micromet is eligible for royalties on worldwide sales of MT203 and other products that may be developed under the agreement. Micromet will be primarily respon-sible for performing preclinical development, process development and manufac-turing of MT203 for early clinical trials, whereas Nycomed will be responsible for clinical development and commercialization on a worldwide basis. Nycomed will bear the cost of development activities and reimburse Micromet for its expenses incurred in connection with the development program.
“We are delighted to enter into a collaboration for the development of MT203 with our new partner Nycomed. We are excited about this collaboration as both par-ties’ expertise and capabilities complement each other,” said Christian Itin, Presi-dent and Chief Executive Officer of Micromet.
“Neutralizing GM-CSF presents a new biology concept in inflammatory processes and may have the potential to improve the lives of patients suffering from severe chronic inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. Furthermore, this deal is the first example of Nycomed’s strong commitment towards external collaborations across all development stages as a key component of our new R&D strategy. MT203 also highlights our strategic interest in inflammatory research,” said An-ders Ullman, Executive Vice President R&D of Nycomed.
About Micromet, Inc.
Micromet, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company focusing on the development of novel, proprietary antibody-based products for cancer, inflammatory and autoim-mune diseases. Two product candidates are currently in clinical trials. MT103/MEDI-538, which is the first product candidate based on Micromet's novel BiTE(R) product development platform, is being evaluated in a phase 1 clinical trial for the treatment of patients with non-Hodgkins lymphoma. The BiTE product development platform is based on a unique, antibody-based format that levera-ges the cytotoxic potential of T cells, widely recognized as the most powerful 'kil-ler cells' of the human immune system. Adecatumumab (MT201), a recombinant human monoclonal antibody which targets EpCAM expressing tumors, has comp-leted two phase 2a clinical trials, one in patients with breast cancer and the other in patients with prostate cancer. In addition, a phase 1b trial evaluating the safety and tolerability of MT201 in combination with docetaxel is currently ongoing in pa-tients with metastatic breast cancer. Micromet has established collaborations with MedImmune, Inc. for MT103/MEDI-538 and Merck Serono for adecatumumab (MT201). http://www.micromet-inc.com/
About Nycomed
Nycomed is a pharmaceutical group which provides products for hospitals, spe-cialists and general practitioners, as well as over-the-counter medicines in selec-ted markets. The company is active within a range of therapeutic areas, including cardiology, gastroenterology, Osteoporosis, respiratory, pain and tissue mana-gement. New products are sourced both from own research and from external partners. Operating throughout Europe and in fast-growing markets such as Latin America, Russia/CIS and the Asia-Pacific region Nycomed has a presence in about 50 markets worldwide. Privately owned, the combined group had non-audited estimated annual sales of approximately € 3.4 billion and an EBITDA of € 933.4 million (2006 results).
For more information visit http://www.nycomed.com/
For further information
International:
Christoffer Jensen, VP Communications
Phone +45 46 77 11 12
Mobile +45 22 43 69 44
Germany:
Susanne Hof, Head of External Communications
Phone +49 7531 84 30 59
Mobile +49 151 55 00 26 65
Contact to Micromet, Inc.:
Chris Schnittker, SVP & CFO
Phone +1 240 752 1421