BioInvent International AB could earn up to €11 million (US$14 million) in up-front and milestone payments, as well as royalties on eventual product sales, from a cancer antibody discovery collaboration with Les Laboratoires Servier SA.

Lund, Sweden-based BioInvent will screen its proprietary n-CoDeR antibody library for hits against an undisclosed target associated with tumor cell metabolism, which Suresnes, France-based Servier is working on. The platform contains more than 20 billion diverse, fully human antibody fragments.

"This is the traditional, early discovery cooperation deal we've been striking for many years now," Sten Westerberg, vice president of investor relations at BioInvent, told BioWorld Today. "We have close to 30 such programs going on."

Other partners include Leverkusen, Germany-based Bayer AG, which accounts for 14 of these programs; Tokyo-based Daiichi Sankyo Co. Ltd.; and Osaka, Japan-based Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corp. None has reached the clinic as yet, however.

Although a longstanding component of BioInvent's business model, antibody discovery is now secondary to the company's own drug development efforts, several of which will reach key milestones in the coming months.

"This will be a very busy year in the history of BioInvent. We are expecting data from at least three of our four clinical programs," Westerberg said.

A Phase II trial of BI-204, an antibody that targets oxidized forms of the low-density lipoprotein apoB100, is expected to read out in the second quarter. The molecule, which is in development for cardiovascular indications, is partnered with the Genentech Inc. unit of Basel, Switzerland-based Roche Holdings AG.

Also due in the second quarter are data from a Phase IIb head-to-head trial of TB-402, an anti-Factor VIII antibody, and Leverkusen, Germany-based Bayer AG's oral Factor Xa inhibitor (Xarelto) rivaroxaban.

The antibody, which BioInvent is developing in collaboration with Leuven, Belgium-based Thrombogenics NV, is being assessed for its ability to prevent thrombosis in patients undergoing hip surgery. Positive data could flush out a development deal with a large pharmaceutical company.

Also unpartnered is BI-505, an antibody that binds Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1 (ICAM-1 or CD54), which is in development for multiple myeloma. Phase I data are also due around the second quarter.

"It's pretty much event driven. It's on a patient-by-patient basis," Westerberg said. "Depending on the strength of the Phase I data we could choose to carry on into further development ourselves."

BioInvent and Thrombogenics have already secured a deal with Roche for another collaborative program, involving TB-403, an angiogenesis-inhibitor that targets placental growth factor (PIGF). Early stage trials in glioblastoma multiforme and hepatocellular carcinoma are underway.

BioInvent, like its quoted peers in Sweden's biotechnology sector, is grappling with a skeptical investment climate at present.

"Swedish biotechnology has had a really difficult year," Westerberg said. "Sentiment has really worked against biotechnology in Sweden this year." The OMX Stockholm Biotechnology index is down by more than 53 percent from 12 months ago.

One bright spot was Huddinge-based Karo Bio AB's recent deal on retinoic acid-related orphan receptor (ROR-gamma) with New York-based Pfizer Inc. (See BioWorld International, Jan. 4, 2012.)

In six months' time, it will be evident whether BioInvent can offer another.