At AC Immune, we seek to partner our product candidates at the right times, opportunistically capturing optimal value for our shareholders while balancing risk. Our partnering strategy:
Going forward we intend to maintain leadership until late stage in order to maximize our value creation potential.
Our 2019 Tau Morphomer® partnership with Lilly is an excellent illustration of this strategy in action.
Indeed, our partnering track record with some of our most advanced first- and best-in-class product-candidates is exceptional for the high quality of our validating partners as well as the large amount of funds generated to date. Endorsement from these industry leaders underscores our scientific excellence and provides external validation for our proprietary technology platforms.
Over the years, our partnering activities have generated over CHF 300 million in funding for AC Immune; an amount similar to the total raised from investors. This strategy has significantly reduced our risk exposure and share capital dilution. Potential partners see the value of our wholly-owned product candidates in earlier stages of development which have historically been the drivers of cash revenues for the Company and its shareholders.
Going forward, as our experienced Team continues to leverage our discovery platforms, SupraAntigen® and Morphomer®, to discover and develop highly differentiated first- and best-in-class product candidates against the most promising novel targets in neurodegenerative diseases, we expect to continuously add new high value product-candidates to our pipeline.
In December 2018, AC Immune and Eli Lilly and Company signed a license and collaboration agreement to research and develop Morphomer® Tau small molecule aggregation inhibitors, for the potential treatment of Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative diseases. The collaboration combines AC Immune’s proprietary Morphomer® platform technology with Lilly’s clinical development expertise and commercial capabilities in central nervous system disorders. Under the agreement, AC Immune may become eligible to receive payments totaling up to approximately CHF 1.9 billion, plus royalties.
In December 2014, AC Immune entered into a worldwide exclusive license agreement and research collaboration with Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc., to develop and commercialize therapeutic vaccines targeting phosphorylated Tau, for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease and potentially other Tauopathies. The value of this partnership is potentially up to CHF 500 million, plus royalties.
In May 2014, AC Immune signed its first diagnostic partnership, with Life Molecular Imaging SA (formerly Piramal Imaging SA). This exclusive worldwide out-licensing agreement for a Tau protein Positron Emission Tomography (PET) tracer PI-2620 supporting the early diagnosis and clinical management of Alzheimer’s disease and other Tau-related disorders, such as progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP). The agreement includes upfront and sales milestone payments totaling up to EUR 160 million, plus royalties.
Our clinical stage pipeline uniquely integrates diagnostic and therapeutic candidates as well as different treatment modalities (such as antibodies, vaccines and small molecule drugs) against the most promising validated therapeutic targets.
We believe adaptive biomarker-based trial designs provide the necessary flexibility in an increasingly dynamic regulatory environment and shorten the time from bench to bedside.
