MedImmune has inked a deal to license the worldwide rights to Trellis Biosciences' antibodies directed against the respiratory syncytial virus, agreeing to pay up to $338 million in an unspecified upfront payment and a schedule of milestones for any product that makes its way to the market. Trellis also stands to earn additional royalties from any sales.
MedImmune, a subsidiary of AstraZeneca, has been an active player in the RSV space. "Given the company's deep expertise in the field of RSV, we believe MedImmune is the best possible partner for this molecule," commented James Posada, chief business officer of Trellis.
"The discovery of these antibodies further validates the Trellis CellSpot platform and its ability to screen millions of human B cells to identify very rare human antibodies generated by the human body to fight infection, in this case RSV," added Stote Ellsworth president and chief technology officer of Trellis.
- here's the press release for more info