Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) announced that it has inked a worldwide license agreement with global innovative pharmaceutical company, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals. Per the agreement, Glenmark will be able to use the full OmniAb platform for producing mono- and bispecific human therapeutic antibodies.
Ligand will be entitled to receive to receive annual platform access payments, development and regulatory milestone payments and tiered royalties for each product incorporating an OmniAb antibody. Meanwhile, Glenmark will be responsible for all costs related to the programs. With the latest deal, Glenmark will also be able to access a technology that includes three separate species in a single license.
Notably, this is the first new OmniAb deal to include OmniChicken in addition to OmniRat, OmniMouse and OmniFlic.
OmniAb includes three transgenic animal platforms consisting of four different technologies— OmniRat, OmniMouse,OmniFlic and OmniChicken — for producing mono- and bispecific human therapeutic antibodies.
Ligand’s shares have gained 39% in a year’s time compared with the industry’s growth of 1.1%.
We remind investors that OmniAb, an antibody-generating platform, became a part of Ligand’s technology portfolio following its OMT, Inc. acquisition in January 2016.
Ligand is focused on the development and licensing of biopharmaceutical assets. In fact, its Captisol formulation technology has allowed the company to enter into several licensing deals and generate royalties. Captisol is a well validated chemically modified cyclodextrin that is designed to improve safety and solubility, stability, and bioavailability or lessen the volatility, irritation, smell or taste of drugs.
Other technology platforms at Ligand include LTP technology and Selexis technology. All these technologies along with Captisol and OmniAb have created a strong platform for the company to seek new licenses and partnerships. Also, Ligand has partnership agreements with leading healthcare companies like Novartis (NYSE:NVS) , Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN), Merck (NYSE:MRK) , Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) , Celgene (NASDAQ:CELG), Gilead and Lilly, among others.
Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated Price
Zacks Rank
Ligand has a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell).
You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Zacks Editor-in-Chief Goes "All In" on This Stock
Full disclosure, Kevin Matras now has more of his own money in one particular stock than in any other. He believes in its short-term profit potential and also in its prospects to more than double by 2019. Today he reveals and explains his surprising move in a new Special Report.
Pfizer, Inc. (PFE): Free Stock Analysis Report
Novartis AG (NVS): Free Stock Analysis Report
Merck & Company, Inc. (MRK): Free Stock Analysis Report
Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (LGND): Free Stock Analysis Report
Original post