Innate Pharma negotiated a deal with Inserm, France’s health research agency, giving the company early access and potential licensing options to antibody target projects in development by Inserm laboratories. The partnership is reportedly the first of its kind undertaken by Inserm.
The agreement was made via Inserm’s technology transfer arm, Inserm-Transfert. This means that Innate will be regularly updated about new antibody targets discovered by Inserm laboratories. Inserm-Transfert will also help to identify high-potential products from different Inserm laboratories.
After preliminary evaluation of promising projects, the company will have the opportunity to collaborate with Inserm on further development. Project-specific option agreements will also give Innate the right to license products for development.
The organizations claim that this new kind of partnership will benefit from the combination of Inserm’s specialization in fundamental research and Innate’s expertise in translational research in antibody development. They suggest the continuous interaction between Inserm and Innate will help ensure that the most promising research programs are selected for further development.
“Facilitating collaboration between Inserm’s academic laboratories and industry is at the core of Inserm-Transfert’s mission,” comments Cécile Tharaud, Ph.D., Inserm-Transfert’s CEO. “In this kind of partnership, our partners benefit from our high value-added services within a streamlined, contractual relationship.”