Ligand Announces OmniAb Partnership with iMetabolic Biopharma Corporation

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated announces it has entered into a worldwide OmniAb partnership with iMetabolic Biopharma Corporation (iMBP), an early stage biopharma company located in Tempe, AZ. Under the terms of the partnership, iMBP gains access to the full OmniAb platform including OmniRat, OmniMouse, OmniFlic and OmniChicken in their drug discovery efforts. Ligand received an up-front license payment and is eligible to receive a tiered royalty on future potential sales of up to 6%. As part of the agreement, Ligand will fund and facilitate selected early antibody discovery activities and will in return receive an ownership position in iMBP. iMetabolic Biopharma Corporation will be responsible for pre-clinical and clinical development costs and commercialization costs.

“Ligand is proud of its heritage of establishing strategic partnerships with innovative, emerging organizations with experienced management teams, and our agreement with iMetabolic Biopharma Corporation is another example of such an alliance,” said John Higgins, Chief Executive Officer of Ligand. “Like our many other OmniAb partners, iMBP understands the value and benefit of the multi-species, genetically engineered OmniAb platforms for generation of diverse mono- and bispecific fully human antibodies as they look to develop first-in-class therapeutics for metabolic diseases with significant unmet needs.”

Dr. Urban A. Kiernan, the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of iMetabolic Biopharma Corporation, stated, “The willingness of the Ligand team to execute this partnership deal clearly shows their understanding of the needs and value of early stage drug discovery and development companies. Such partnerships are the driving force of innovation and we are honored and enthused to have a partner in Ligand.”