(News Bulletin 247) – The Nantes biotech announced this Wednesday that it had reached an agreement to develop a monoclonal antibody with a potential market of tens of billions of dollars. This agreement involves an upfront payment of $48 million which extends the company’s financial horizon until 2026.

The big stock market hit of the day is signed OSE Immunotherapeutics. The Nantes biotechnology company saw its share price take off this Wednesday, with an increase of 51.6% around 3:10 p.m., after having even reached more than 80% at the start of the session. This brings the total capitalization of the company to 108 million euros.

OSE Immunotherapeutics has been best known to the general public since last fall for Tedopi, its vaccine candidate against a type of lung cancer. This vaccine is currently in phase III clinical trials, that is to say the last stage before potential marketing.

But the increase in its action this Thursday is linked to a licensing agreement with a completely different molecule, namely OSE-230, a monoclonal antibody designed to resolve chronic inflammation. OSE Immunotherapeutics has not yet started clinical trials on humans with this potential treatment, being in the final stages of preclinical development necessary before entry into phase I.

>> Access our exclusive graphic analyses, and gain insight into the Trading Portfolio

Upfront payment of $48 million

“OSE-230 aims to treat all so-called severe and chronic inflammations. This includes inflammatory diseases of the digestive tract, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, polyarthritis or even numerous chronic inflammations of the lung, kidney or pancreas,” explains at News Bulletin 247 Nicolas Poirier, the general director of the Nantes company.

“Until now, inflammations have been treated via anti-inflammatories that attempt to inhibit the secretion of inflammatory molecules. OSE-230 takes another approach: the monoclonal antibody serves as a switch, by “activating natural pathways to resolve inflammation,” explains the manager.

To develop this drug candidate, OSE Immunotherapeutics announced this Wednesday a strategic partnership with the American giant Abbvie (market capitalization $316 billion!).

Under the terms of this partnership, Abbvie will obtain an exclusive worldwide license to develop, manufacture and market OSE-230. OSE Immunotherapeutics will receive an upfront payment of $48 million and may obtain up to an additional $665 million in development, regulatory and commercialization milestone payments. In addition, OSE Immunotherapeutics may receive tiered royalties on global net sales of OSE-230, the French company indicates.

A gigantic potential market

The market opportunities for this potential treatment are significant. “Potentially, OSE-230 could obtain very numerous indications, which could represent a total market of the order of several tens of billions of dollars,” underlines Nicolas Poirier.

“But this huge potential also means significant investments in R&D and the deployment of very significant sales forces. This is why we chose to join forces with a giant like Abbvie,” continues the general manager.

The cash immediately received from this partnership will significantly increase the financial visibility of OSE Immunotherapeutics. “The initial payment of $48 million will allow us to extend our financial horizon by two years, until 2026. This amount will finance our operations but also investments in our proprietary R&D program, in particular to finance the clinical study of phase III in our Tedopi lung cancer vaccine”, announces Nicolas Poirier.

Does this collaboration suggest a future investment in the capital of OSE Immunotherapeutics by Abbvie or another pharmaceutical giant? “This is not planned for the moment but is not excluded,” replies its general director.

For now, Degroof Petercam welcomes “positive news for OSE Immunotherapeutics”. “This very attractive licensing agreement underlines the therapeutic potential of OSE-230 and provides significant financial relief,” appreciates the Belgian bank.