Adimab, LLC announced a two-target funded discovery collaboration with Kyowa Hakko Kirin (KHK) of Tokyo, Japan. Based on the strength and flexibility of Adimab's platform, KHK has designated a membrane protein target as the initial collaboration target. In addition, Adimab announced the receipt of milestone payments from its existing collaborations with Gilead, Biogen Idec and Novo Nordisk.

Adimab and KHK have entered into a collaboration whereby Adimab will use its proprietary discovery and optimization platform to identify fully human antibodies against two targets selected by KHK. For each target, the agreement grants KHK the right to research antibodies generated from the collaboration for potential use as therapeutic products. Under the terms of the agreement, Adimab will receive various upfront fees including research fees and technical milestones.

In addition, for each target, KHK will have the sole option to exclusively license antibodies from the collaboration, and if KHK were to exercise the option for a particular target, then Adimab would receive license fees, clinical milestones and royalties on therapeutic product sales for such target. In addition, Adimab announced the achievement of technical milestones from its ongoing collaborations with Biogen Idec, Gilead, and Novo Nordisk.