Biopharmaceutical start-up Target-In Ltd. has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with KaloBios Pharmaceuticals Inc of the US and the granting of a license to develop molecules for a cancer treatment based on Target-In’s technology. The agreement is reportedly worth several million dollars.
KaloBios will develop antibodies that will destroy the cells they penetrate by using Target-In’s cell-death technology. The company will pay Target-In a licensing fee in advance and additional payments upon meeting milestones, and a percentage of future sales. The first product the agreement covers is a special antibody to treat leukemia.
Target-In’s technology is based on apofusion, in which cells die when receiving the appropriate signal from the body. The company is developing molecules that transmit this signal artificially, thereby killing unwanted cells, such as tumors or inflamed tissue.
Target-In has raised $2 million to date from Yissum Technology Transfer Company of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, private investors and EU Sixth Framework Programme for Research and Development (2002-2006).
The agreement with KaloBios is Target-In’s second agreement this month. The first was with Century Pharmaceuticals Ltd. of India to develop an antihistamine and asthma treatment.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on February 27, 2007
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