Almirall and WuXi Biologics Sign Strategic Collaboration Agreement for Multiple Bispecific Antibodies Targeting Dermatology Diseases

BARCELONA, Spain, Jan. 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Almirall, S.A. (ALM) and WuXi Biologics ("WuXi Bio") (2269.HK) have today announced the signing of an agreement. Through this collaboration Almirall embarks on its strategy to develop highly innovative biologic products for dermatology diseases including atopic dermatitis.

Under the terms of the agreement, Almirall has access to WuXi Biologics' proprietary antibody platforms including WuXiBody™ to discover multiple novel bispecific antibodies. This strategic collaboration permits Almirall to develop the medication under licence and maintain ownership for medical use of the resulting components to complete the company's objective of developing biologics to tackle skin diseases.

Bhushan Hardas, MD, MBA, Chief Scientific Officer of Almirall, commented that, "This agreement is a big step forward for us in our objective in becoming a leader in biologic medical dermatology treatments. With WuXi Biologics technology platform and our long experience and understanding in the area of dermatology, we will be able to identify new molecules with the potential to become optimal alternative therapies for patients with atopic dermatology."

Dr. Chris Chen, Chief Executive Officer of WuXi Biologics, stated, "We are delighted to establish this collaboration with Almirall, the 12th global partnership since we launched this exciting platform in August 2018. This represents one further step in validating the power and versatile applications of WuXiBody™ in multiple therapeutic areas, underlining our leadership in next-generation biologic technologies and demonstrating our contributions to enable global partners to develop more new treatments for patients worldwide. WuXi Biologics is committed to developing globally leading technologies to accelerate and transform biologics discovery, development and manufacturing."

About Almirall

Almirall is a leading skin-health focused global pharmaceutical company that partners with healthcare professionals, applying science to provide medical solutions to patients and future generations. Our efforts are focused on fighting skin health diseases and helping people feel better. We support healthcare professionals in their continuous improvements, providing our innovative solutions where they are needed.

The company was founded almost 75 years ago and has its headquarters in Barcelona. It is listed on the Spanish Stock Exchange (ticker: ALM). Almirall has become a key source of value creation for society thanks to its commitment to its principal shareholders and its decision to help others by understanding their challenges and using science to provide solutions for real life. Total revenues in 2018 were 811 million euros. Almirall has more than 1,800 employees dedicated to research.

For more information see www.almirall.com.

About WuXiBody™

WuXiBody™ is a leading proprietary bispecific antibody platform developed by WuXi Biologics. It can effectively break through the CMC barriers for many bispecific antibodies development with high expression yield, high stability, good solubility, and easy purification to homogeneity, expedite the process by 6-18 months and significantly reduce manufacturing cost, a limitation still facing by many other current bispecific platforms.                            

WuXiBody™ Platform enables almost any mAb sequence pairs to be assembled into bispecific constructs. They are expected to have low immunogenicity risk and longer in vivo half-life. WuXiBody™ Platform also has its unique structural flexibility, which makes it convenient to build various formats with different combination of valencies (1+1, 1+2, 2+2) to meet the requirements of different target biology.

About WuXi Biologics

WuXi Biologics (stock code: 2269.HK), a Hong Kong-listed company, is a leading global open-access biologics technology platform offering end-to-end solutions to empower organizations to discover, develop and manufacture biologics from concept to commercial manufacturing. Our company history and achievements demonstrate our commitment to providing a truly ONE-stop service offering and strong value proposition to our global clients. As of June 30, 2019, there were a total of 224 integrated projects, including 106 projects in pre-clinical development stage, 102 projects in early-phase (phase I and II) clinical development, 15 projects in late-phase (phase III) development and one project in commercial manufacturing. With total estimated capacity for biopharmaceutical production planned in China, Ireland, Singapore, and the U.S. exceeding 280,000 liters by 2022, we will provide our biomanufacturing partners with a robust and premier-quality global supply chain network.

For more information on WuXi Biologics, please visit http://www.wuxibiologics.com.

Media contact:
LLYC
Carmen de la Llave
cdelallave@llorenteycuenca.com  
Phone: (+34) 93 217 22 17

WuXi Biologics Media contact:
Jia Li
li_jia0102@wuxiapptec.com  

Corporate Communications contact:
Almirall
Noel Ortiz
Noel.ortiz@almirall.com  
Phone: (+34) 93 291 30 00

Investors Relations contact:
Almirall
Pablo Divasson del Fraile
pablo.divasson@almirall.com  
Phone: (+34) 93 291 3087

Legal warning

This document includes only summary information and is not intended to be exhaustive. The facts, figures and opinions contained in this document, in addition to the historical ones, are "forward-looking statements". These statements are based on the information currently available and the best estimates and assumptions that the Company considers reasonable. These statements involve risks and uncertainties beyond the control of the Company. Therefore, actual results may differ materially from those declared by such forward-looking statements. The Company expressly waives any obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statements, goals or estimates contained in this document to reflect any changes in the assumptions, events or circumstances on which such forward-looking statements are based, unless required by the applicable law.

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SOURCE Almirall