MedImmune and Abpro said today they will partner to develop a preclinical, novel, bispecific antibody targeting angiopoietin-2 and vascular endothelial growth factor (Ang2-VEGF).

Through the collaboration—whose value was not disclosed—several potential therapeutic areas will be explored where inhibition of the Ang2 and VEGF pathways with the bispecific antibody may provide clinical benefit, MedImmune and Abpro said.

The collaboration has been structured as a spinout designed to benefit from both companies’ scientific expertise and Abpro’s day-to-day leadership. The spinout company will be a subsidiary to be run by Abpro under the name AbMed.

AbMed will receive majority global development and commercialization rights to the program. MedImmune will gain development, regulatory, and sales milestones and royalties through the collaboration, as well as a minority equity stake in AbMed, the companies added.

MedImmune—the global biologics research and development arm of AstraZeneca—engineered the bispecific antibody, which according to the company has shown potent activity in animal models.

Abpro will use its core technology, the DiversImmune™ platform, to refine the antibody further, as well as bring scientific, technical, and clinical expertise to AbMed.

“This collaboration further validates our platform’s ability to develop therapeutic antibodies against traditionally difficult targets, with compelling prospects for potential clinical utility,” Ian Chan, Abpro CEO and co-founder, said in a statement.

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