Immune Pharmaceuticals owns ICO 32 million dollars VANCOUVER, Canada - iCo Therapeutics Inc. (TSX-V: ICO) is pleased to announce that Immune Pharmaceuticals (IMMUNE) has licensed Bertilimumab (iCo-008) for systemic uses, pursuant to an option agreement previously announced in December 2010. iCo may receive US $32 million in milestone consideration for the license, plus royalties. iCo retains worldwide exclusive rights to all ocular applications, including a number of sight-threatening diseases.
Upfront consideration includes US $500,000 cash, 600,000 IMMUNE shares and 200,000 IMMUNE warrants.
"We look forward to working with IMMUNE to advance Bertilimumab. IMMUNE has assembled an impressive group of experts and management and we believe the team has the expertise to successfully drive Bertilimumab clinical development," stated Andrew Rae, iCo's President and CEO. "We are pleased to have unlocked the value of Bertilimumab in indications outside of our core ocular focus. iCo remains committed to developing Bertilimumab for vernal keratoconjunctivitis and age-related macular degeneration".
According to Professor Marc Rothenberg, Chief Scientific Officer of IMMUNE and the Director of the Division of Allergy and Immunology and the Center for Eosinophilic Diseases at Cincinnati's Children's Hospital, "Bertilimumab has great potential for the treatment of eosinophilic inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) and eosinophilic gastro-intestinal diseases (EGID). Bertilimumab is the first monoclonal antibody to specifically neutralize human eotaxin-1, a chemokine, associated with inflammatory disease activity in Crohn's Disease and Ulcerative Colitis".
Dr. Daniel Teper, CEO of IMMUNE commented: "Bertilimumab is the top priority in IMMUNE's growing portfolio of Monoclonal Antibodies. We are initiating the manufacturing of a new GMP batch of Bertilimumab with a leading biologics manufacturer and actively preparing for phase II clinical trials".