Lilly ties up with Ambrx for drug discovery

Eli Lilly and Company entered into a collaboration agreement with the privately held Ambrx Inc. to discover and develop novel treatments in several therapeutic areas, including metabolic diseases, central nervous system disorders and other diseases.

The collaboration will apply Ambrx's unique protein optimisation technology, Recodetm, with Lilly's expertise in biologics discovery, development and commercialisation to pursue first-in-class or best-in-class drug candidates, including therapeutic antibodies and improved variants of native proteins, a company press release said.

"We are pleased to enter into this agreement with Lilly, a biologics leader with a proven ability to launch successful medicines in areas of strategic interest to Ambrx," said Stephen W. Kaldor, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer, Ambrx. "This new collaboration allows us to use our existing Recodetm technology to produce high quality protein clinical candidates while simultaneously affording us the ability to expand our reach into new areas such as therapeutic antibodies. In addition, this agreement will further solidify Ambrx's financial condition for the next several years."

Under the terms of the agreement, Ambrx will receive an initial upfront payment and ongoing research support payments. Ambrx may also receive potential research and development milestones and, if assets resulting from the collaboration are successfully commercialised, Ambrx would receive additional milestones and royalties. Other terms of the deal were not disclosed. This collaboration builds on an earlier agreement signed between the two companies in January 2007.

"Lilly continues to be impressed with the technical breadth and depth of the Ambrx scientific staff," commented Thomas Bumol, M.D., Lilly vice president, biotech discovery research and president of Lilly's Applied Molecular Evolution subsidiary. "By leveraging Ambrx technology with our protein engineering capabilities, we hope to accelerate the development of several promising compounds in our pipeline."

Ambrx Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of first-in-class and best-in-class BioSuperior, protein-based drugs. Using its technology, the company can overcome the performance limitations of high-value commercial proteins by improving their efficacy, safety and ease of use.