Staff Writer

EUSA Pharma Inc., of Oxford, UK, has out-licensed its preclinical-stage human antibody, OP-R003, to GlaxoSmithKline plc, of London, for up to $44 million plus royalties.

The $44 million comprises an up-front fee and development milestones, plus royalties on future sales, according to EUSA. The company has not said explicitly how it plans to use the money, though it has acknowledged plans to continue to rapidly grow the company, spokesman Robert Budge told BioWorld Today. The company has raised more than $225 million since it was founded in 2006, said Budge, who is director of RJ B Communications.

Under the agreement, EUSA said it will pay about 50 percent of the overall consideration to its development partner for the antibody, Vaccinex Inc., of Rochester, N.Y., which discovered the human anti-interleukin-6 antibody. GSK will fund and conduct all future development, production and commercialization of the product.

OP-R003, the first fully human anti-interleukin-6 antibody, has target indications in oncology and inflammatory diseases, EUSA said. Interleukin-6 is a pro-inflammatory cytokine and B-cell growth factor and acts as a resistance factor to standard chemotherapy, according to a company news release.

EUSA said the out-licensing enhances its focus on late-stage and marketed products. "The out-licensing of this early stage antibody is another strategic milestone for EUSA, as we continue to focus our business on marketed and late-stage products in the oncology, pain control and critical care areas," Bryan Morton, chief executive of EUSA Pharma, said in the release.

The company currently has six products on the market, including the antibiotic surgical implant Collatamp G, Erwinase and Kidrolase for the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia, and Rapydan, a rapid-onset anesthetic patch which received Europe-wide approval in late 2007.

EUSA also has several products in late-stage development, notably Collatamp G topical, a gentamicin impregnated collagen sponge for the prevention and treatment of infected skin ulcers and CollaRx bupivacaine implant for local post-surgical pain control.

EUSA acquired OP-R003 as part of its 2007 acquisition of OPi SA, of Limonest, France. OPi previously had entered a collaboration with Vaccinex to optimize and develop OP-R003 as a therapy for rheumatoid arthritis and lymphoma.

The antibody is derived from a first-generation murine antibody, elsilimomab, which has achieved promising clinical results as a lymphoma therapy, according to EUSA. But as a fully human antibody, OP-R003 has the potential to offer improved tolerability and a superior safety profile, the company said.

Brian McVeigh, GSK's worldwide business development director of M&A strategy and transactions at GSK, said in the release, "Interleukin-6 is increasingly recognized as an important biological target in a range of diseases, and consequently OP-R003 has great potential to meet a number of unmet medical needs."