BioWorld Today Correspondent

PanGenetics BV is pocketing an up-front payment of $170 million by passing on ownership of its anti-nerve-growth-factor (NGF) antibody PG110 to Abbott.

PanGenetics, of Utrecht, the Netherlands, could receive an additional $20 million in milestones, although neither company is disclosing further details on the structure of the transaction.

PG110 is currently undergoing a placebo-controlled, dose-escalation Phase Ib trial in patients with knee osteoarthritis pain.

The molecule has potential application in a range of other indications, including chronic lower back pain, diabetic neuropathy and cancer pain.

PanGenetics acquired PG110 outright from Rome-based Lay Line Genomics SpA in 2007, having previously in-licensed the molecule, which originally was discovered by Lay Line scientific founder Antonio Cattaneo.

It binds directly to NGF, a secreted peptide that plays a role in the differentiation and survival of neurons.

That binding blocks NGF's interaction with its two receptors, a high-affinity receptor called TrkA, a tyrosine kinase receptor associated with neuronal differentiation, and a low-affinity receptor, p75, which is involved in a range of functions.

NGF is highly expressed in injured and inflamed tissues, and individuals with congenital mutations in TrkA are known to be insensitive to pain. Others targeting the peptide include Pfizer Inc, of New York, which acquired the Phase III antibody tanezumab via its acquisition of Rinat Neuroscience Corp., of South San Francisco. (See BioWorld Today, April 10, 2006.)

Although the value of that deal was not disclosed at the time, Pfizer subsequently revealed that it paid $880 million for Rinat and Cambridge, UK-based Powdermed Ltd., as well as a number of other smaller acquisitions.

PG110 could have best-in-class potential, PanGenetics CEO Kevin Johnson told BioWorld Today, and that's what drove the present deal.

"It's probably less the target than the antibody. We already knew early on in this program the antibody was spectacularly good, regardless of what we did," he said, although he was unwilling to comment further on its properties. "We're comfortable it's differentiated. So is Abbott," he said.

Increased activity in the field influenced the timing of the deal. "The competition in this space is heating up. I think everybody is seeing the light," Johnson said. "We're a tiny company. We've got limited resources, and this is a big boys' race."

The deal validates PanGenetics' no-research development-only strategy, which involves taking in early stage antibodies and putting them through early clinical development before handing them off to larger partners.

"It was an experiment within Index Ventures, the whole story, so we're actually feeling the experiment worked," he said.

Johnson led London-based Index Ventures' Series A investment in PanGenetics before joining the company.

Johnson also led the team that developed adalimumab (Humira), the blockbuster TNF-alpha inhibitor, which Abbott, of Abbott Park, Ill., licensed from Cambridge Antibody Technology, of Cambridge, UK (now part of London-based AstraZeneca plc.).

"I don't know if Abbott is following me around or if I'm following Abbott around," he said.

PanGenetics has one other clinical stage program under way, PG102, a CD40 antagonist in development for autoimmune diseases.

It is undergoing a Phase Ib trial in patients with psoriatic arthritis.