Biogen Inc. and Vanqua Bio announced a license agreement granting Biogen exclusive worldwide rights to Vanqua’s preclinical, oral C5aR1 antagonist. This agreement strengthens Biogen’s immunology strategy by advancing a proven immune mechanism with the potential to address a broad range of inflammatory disorders with high unmet need.
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“This agreement reflects our strong commitment to building a comprehensive immunology pipeline with a strategic focus on both innate and adaptive immune pathways,” said Jane Grogan, Ph.D., Executive Vice President and Head of Research at Biogen. “C5aR1 is a well-validated target involved in neutrophil-mediated inflammation, which plays a central role across a range of inflammatory disorders. Advancing this program enables us to deepen our scientific and clinical focus in immunological diseases where we believe Biogen can make a meaningful difference for patients.”
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This agreement complements Biogen’s early-stage immunology pipeline by adding an oral mechanism with potential applicability across multiple immune-mediated diseases. C5aR1 plays a pivotal role in driving critical components of the immune cascade involved in tissue inflammation, particularly in neutrophil-mediated conditions. Preclinically, the program has demonstrated inhibition of complement activation of pathogenic immune cells, and a preclinical safety and tolerability profile supportive of advancing the compound into clinical development. Biogen would expect, if results continue to be supportive, to file an IND in 2027.
“Biogen’s scale, development rigor, and global commercialization capabilities make them uniquely positioned to advance this compound for patients with inflammatory disorders,” said Jim Sullivan, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Vanqua Bio. “The discovery of a highly differentiated C5aR1 inhibitor validates the small molecule drug discovery capabilities of the Vanqua team. Furthermore, this transaction allows Vanqua to remain focused on our CNS pipeline while ensuring that this program can be developed to its full potential.”
Under the terms of the agreement, Biogen will obtain exclusive worldwide rights to Vanqua’s peripherally-directed C5aR1 program. Vanqua will receive a $70 million upfront payment and is eligible to receive up to $990 million in potential development, regulatory, commercial, and sales milestone payments, as well as tiered royalties on potential net sales. The upfront payment will be recorded by Biogen as an Acquired In-Process Research and Development expense in the fourth quarter of 2025. Biogen will lead all future development, manufacturing and commercialization efforts.
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Source- GlobeNewswire
