Pharmaceutical firm Celgene has provided an undisclosed amount of equity funding for Canada-based antibody therapeutics developer Zymeworks as part of a collaboration and licensing agreement.
Zymeworks is working on bi-specific antibodies and antibody drug conjugates to combat cancer, autoimmune diseases and inflammatory diseases. It will collaborate with Celgene on developing multiple antibodies based on its technology.
Celgene will in return supply up to $164m in clinical, regulatory and commercial milestone payments for each therapeutic candidate, and has invested an undisclosed amount in Zymeworks.
Zymeworks has not disclosed the amount of equity investment supplied by Celgene but a regulatory filing indicates it has just raised $24m in funding. The round, which it began raising in October 2014, would include C$4m supplied by Fonds de solidarité FTQ in December.
Other regulatory filings show the company has raised more than $43m in funding altogether. Its other backers include CTI Capital.