ABL Bio announced on the 7th that it has signed a technology transfer contract with the British pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) for the Blood Brain Barrier shuttle technology known as 'Grabody-B.'
Under the contract, ABL Bio is expected to receive approximately 148 billion won (38.5 million pounds), including a contract fee of 73.9 billion won (3.85 million pounds) and short-term milestone fees.
Additionally, ABL Bio will have the right to receive up to 3.9623 trillion won (2.063 billion pounds) in development, approval, and commercialization milestones for various programs, as well as step-by-step royalties based on net sales.
The two companies plan to develop new treatments for degenerative brain diseases using various modalities, such as short interfering RNA (siRNA) and antisense oligonucleotides (ASO). ABL Bio will transfer its Grabody-B technology and know-how, while GSK will be responsible for preclinical and clinical trials, manufacturing, and commercialization.
The Blood Brain Barrier has been an obstacle in the development of treatments for brain diseases. While oxygen and nutrients can flow from blood vessels to the brain, larger proteins are blocked by endothelial cells surrounding the blood vessels and cannot reach the brain. The Blood Brain Barrier protects the brain from foreign substances, but there has been the issue that protein therapies, like antibodies, struggle to cross it.
ABL Bio's Grabody-B was developed to overcome the limitations of existing drugs that struggle to cross the Blood Brain Barrier. It allows the drug to effectively pass through the Blood Brain Barrier via the insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor (IGF1R) and be delivered to the brain.
Christopher Austin, senior vice president of the institutional sector at GSK, said, "Many promising candidates for new treatments for degenerative brain diseases are antibody-based therapies, and they cannot effectively reach the brain without a shuttle that can cross the Blood Brain Barrier. ABL Bio's shuttle will play a critical role in GSK's next-generation pipeline."
Lee Sang-hoon, CEO of ABL Bio, noted, "This contract will solidify ABL Bio's position in the degenerative brain disease treatment market and provide a great opportunity to expand the applicable modalities of Grabody-B," and said, "We hope to accelerate the development of innovative treatments and offer new hope to patients worldwide."