Xoma and its partner, Les Laboratoires Servier (Servier), agreed to transfer Xoma’s technology and process for the commercial manufacture of gevokizumab to Boehringer Ingelheim. The product, an interleukin 1-beta (IL-1beta) allosteric modulating antibody, is in Phase III clinical development in patients with noninfectious uveitis (NIU) involving the intermediate and/or posterior segment of the eye.

The global development plan includes a Phase III trial to be conducted by Servier in patients with Behcet’s uveitis. Upon completion of the transfer and the establishment of biological comparability, Boehringer Ingelheim is expected to produce gevokizumab at its facility in Biberach, Germany, for Xoma’s commercial use.

The Boehringer Ingelheim agreement capped off a hectic week for Xoma. On Tuesday, CMC Biologics acquired Xoma’s large-scale biomanufacturing plant in Berkeley, CA. This came one day after Oncobiologics reported that it would collaborate with Xoma on the development of biotherapeutics based on engineering single-chain variable fragments (scFv) into a bi-specific antibody scaffold.

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