BERKELEY, Calif., Jul 26, 2010 (GlobeNewswire via COMTEX) -- XOMA Ltd., a leader in the discovery and development of therapeutic antibodies, announced receipt of a $750,000 milestone payment under its collaboration with AVEO Pharmaceuticals, Inc. /quotes/comstock/15*!aveo/quotes/nls/aveo (AVEO 7.15, -0.25, -3.38%) . The milestone payment resulted from AVEO's recent initiation of a Phase 2 clinical trial to evaluate its AV-299 antibody for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer. AV-299 is a humanized antibody to hepatocyte growth factor (HGF).
XOMA has signed more than 60 license and collaboration agreements with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies related to its patented technologies and its antibody discovery, development and optimization expertise. These agreements cover a number of potential product candidates in various stages of clinical and preclinical development for which XOMA may be entitled to future milestone and royalty payments.
About XOMA
XOMA discovers, develops and manufactures novel antibody therapeutics for its own proprietary pipeline as well as through license and collaborative agreements with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, and under its contracts with the U.S. government. The company's proprietary product pipeline includes:
-- XOMA 052, an anti-IL-1 beta antibody in Phase 2 clinical development for
Type 2 diabetes with cardiovascular biomarkers, Type 1 diabetes, and
with potential for the treatment of a wide range of inflammatory
conditions. XOMA 052 also has demonstrated positive clinical benefit in
a proof-of-concept trial for the treatment of vision-threatening uveitis
of Behçet's disease.
-- XOMA 3AB, an antibody candidate in pre-IND studies to neutralize the
botulinum toxin, among the most deadly potential bioterror threats,
under development through funding provided by the National Institute of
Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the National Institutes of Health
(Contract # HHSN266200600008C).
-- A preclinical pipeline with candidates in development for several
diseases.
In addition to its proprietary pipeline, XOMA develops products with premier pharmaceutical companies including Novartis AG, Schering Corporation, a subsidiary of Merck & Co., Inc. and Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited.
XOMA's technologies have contributed to the success of marketed antibody products, including LUCENTIS(R) (ranibizumab injection) for wet age-related macular degeneration and CIMZIA(R) (certolizumab pegol) for rheumatoid arthritis and Crohn's disease.
The company has a premier antibody discovery and development platform that incorporates an unmatched collection of antibody phage display libraries and proprietary Human Engineering(tm), affinity maturation, Bacterial Cell Expression (BCE) and manufacturing technologies. BCE is a key breakthrough biotechnology for the discovery and manufacturing of antibodies and other proteins. As a result, more than 50 pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies have signed BCE licenses, and several licensed product candidates are in clinical development.
XOMA has a fully integrated product development infrastructure, extending from pre-clinical science to approval, and a team of about 215 employees at its Berkeley, California location. For more information, please visit http://www.xoma.com.