Policy & Regulation
Alexion and Zealand Pharma enter into collaboration to discover and develop peptide therapies
21 March 2019 -

Global biopharmaceutical company Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc (Alexion) (Nasdaq:ALXN) and Zealand Pharma A/S (Zealand)(CPH:ZEAL), a biotechnology company focused on peptide-based medicines, announced on Wednesday a collaboration to discover and develop novel peptide therapies for complement-mediated diseases.

This agreement provides Alexion with exclusive worldwide licenses, as well as development and commercial rights, for up to four targets within the complement pathway.

Under the terms of the agreement, Alexion and Zealand will enter into an exclusive collaboration for the discovery and development of subcutaneously delivered peptide therapies directed to up to four complement pathway targets.

Zealand will lead the joint discovery and research efforts through the preclinical stage, while Alexion will lead development efforts beginning with IND filing and phase 1 studies.

This agreement provides Alexion with exclusive worldwide licenses and commercial rights to the peptide therapies developed in the collaboration. Zealand will receive an immediate upfront payment of USD25m for the first target, with Alexion making a concurrent USD15m equity investment in Zealand Pharma at a premium to the market price as of the collaboration effective date.

Also, for the lead target, the agreement provides the potential for development-related milestones of up to USD115m, as well as up to USD495m in sales-related milestones and the potential for high single- to low double-digit royalty payments.

In addition, each of the three subsequent targets can be selected for an option fee of USD15m and has the potential for additional development-milestones and sales-milestones and royalty payments at a reduced price to the lead target.

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