Ligand Pharmaceuticals has entered into a worldwide OmniAb platform license agreement with Ferring Pharmaceuticals. Under the license, Ferring will be able to use the full OmniAb platform including OmniRat, OmniMouse, OmniFlic and OmniChicken to discover fully human mono- and bispecific antibodies. Ligand is eligible to receive annual platform access payments, development and regulatory milestone payments and tiered royalties for each product incorporating an OmniAb antibody. Ferring will be responsible for all costs related to the programs.
“Our OmniAb antibody discovery business is thriving as we continue to sign up new partners,” said John Higgins, Chief Executive Officer of Ligand. “There is significant demand for research tools to facilitate drug discovery, and our novel platform of transgenic animals, proprietary assays and intellectual property make our offering a very attractive package for licensing. We continue to invest in the platform and secure more deals that will drive Ligand’s future growth.”