Ichnos Sciences and Almirall Enter into a Licensing Agreement for First-in-Class IL-1RAP Antagonist Monoclonal Antibody

Ichnos Sciences and Almirall Enter into a Licensing Agreement for First-in-Class IL-1RAP Antagonist Monoclonal Antibody

·         Almirall is Granted Exclusive Global Rights to Develop and Commercialize ISB 880 for Use in Autoimmune Diseases

NEW YORK, USA, and BARCELONA, Spain, December 14, 2021 – Ichnos Sciences Inc., a global biotechnology company developing innovative biologics in oncology and autoimmune diseases, and Almirall S.A. (BME: ALM), a global biopharmaceutical company focused on skin health, announced today that they have entered into an exclusive licensing agreement for the IL-1RAP antagonist ISB 880. Under the agreement, Almirall is granted global rights to develop and commercialize this monoclonal antibody for autoimmune diseases. Ichnos will retain rights for antibodies acting on the IL-1RAP pathway for oncology indications.

Within the terms of the agreement, Almirall will assume full cost and responsibility for the global development and commercialization of the compound for all autoimmune disease indications. Ichnos will receive an upfront payment of € 20.8 million as well as additional development and commercial milestone payments and tiered royalties based upon future global sales.

ISB 880 is a first-in-class fully human, high affinity monoclonal antibody that targets human IL-1RAP. Blockade of IL-1RAP simultaneously abrogates multiple disease drivers among the IL-1 family of proinflammatory cytokine receptors, including IL-1R, IL-33R, and IL-36R, differentiating ISB 880 from single cytokine blockade therapies. These cytokines have been implicated in numerous autoimmune conditions, opening opportunities for ISB 880 to be positioned across broad disease indications. IND-enabling work has been conducted and filings with regulatory authorities are under development.

“This is an exciting step forward for Ichnos as we enhance our focus on oncology and accelerate the pipeline of multispecific antibodies based on our proprietary, BEAT^® platform,” said Cyril Konto, MD, President and CEO of Ichnos. “ISB 880 anti-IL-1RAP antagonist illustrates Ichnos’ core capabilities in biologics discovery and manufacturing, as well as its strategy to advance a pipeline with potential first- or best-in-class assets. Almirall’s excellent team is well positioned to take ISB 880 through testing and development with the goal of delivering this potential new treatment to patients.”

“Given its novel mechanism of action, we believe that ISB 880 has great potential to treat underserved patients across a range of autoimmune dermatological diseases,” said Karl Ziegelbauer, Ph.D., CSO of Almirall.  “We look forward to beginning to work on ISB 880 and based on the significant data generated by Ichnos we plan to initiate the first-in-human study in the first half of 2022.”

About Ichnos Sciences Inc.

A fully integrated, global biotech with the spirit of a start-up, Ichnos is shifting the way the world thinks about innovation in medicine through its research and development of transformative, disease-centric treatments in oncology and autoimmune diseases. The company, with headquarters in New York, N.Y., is rapidly advancing a clinical-stage pipeline of novel, first-in-class candidates designed to address complex diseases and to treat patients holistically. With its patented BEAT^® technology platform^[i], Ichnos Sciences has a mission to provide breakthrough, curative therapies that will extend and improve lives, writing a new chapter in healthcare.

Ichnos continues to advance its pipeline of multispecific antibodies in oncology, with the lead asset, ISB 1342, a CD38 x CD3 bispecific antibody, in Phase 1, and ISB 1442, a CD38 x CD47 2+1 biparatopic bispecific antibody, in IND-enabling studies. Both molecules are being investigated as potential treatments for patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma and other CD38 expressing hematological malignancies. Additional assets from the BEAT^® platform may be viewed on the pipeline page of the Ichnos website.

For more information, visit IchnosSciences.com

About Almirall

Almirall is a global biopharmaceutical company focused on skin health. We collaborate with scientists and healthcare professionals to address patient’s needs through science to improve their lives.  Our Noble Purpose is at the core of our work: “Transform the patients' world by helping them realize their hopes and dreams for a healthy life”. We invest in differentiated and ground-breaking medical dermatology products to bring our innovative solutions to patients in need. 

The company, founded in 1943 and headquartered in Barcelona, is publicly traded on the Spanish Stock Exchange and is a member of the IBEX35 (ticker: ALM). Throughout its 78-year history, Almirall has retained a strong focus on the needs of patients. Currently, Almirall has a direct presence in 21 countries and strategic agreements in over 70, through 13 subsidiaries, with about 1,800 employees. Total revenues in 2020 were 814.5 million euros.

For more information, please visit almirall.com

[i] Bispecific Engagement by Antibodies based on the T-cell receptor