Shire exercises option on candidates from arGEN-X collaboration

Ireland-headquartered drugmaker Shire (LSE: SHP) has exercised the option to advance into preclinical development one or more candidates created with cancer and autoimmune specialist arGEN-X (Euronext Brussels: ARGX).

The product candidates are the result of a 2012 therapeutic antibody alliance between the two companies. Shire was given the option to license promising leads of human antibody candidates identified and characterized by arGEN-X using the SIMPLE Antibody Platform. These therapeutic leads were based on targets provided to arGEN-X by Shire that are known to contribute to the pathophysiology of severe, rare genetic diseases. Shire will issue a milestone payment to arGEN-X on the basis of this decision.

Tim Van Hauwermeiren, chief executive of arGEN-X, said: “We are very pleased with Shire’s decision to exercise its option to further develop product candidates that came out of our initial discovery deal. We believe this decision is a reflection of the strength of our technology platform and its ability to deliver viable therapeutic candidates that reach disease targets previously considered inaccessible.”