Boehringer Ingelheim drops option for Athera’s PC-MAb

Sweden’s Athera Biotechnologies, which is 65% owned by Karolinska Development, says that German family-owned pharma major Boehringer Ingelheim will not exercise the option agreement to license Athera’s cardiovascular antibody due to re-evaluation of Boehringer Ingelheim’s R&D strategy.

The ongoing clinical development program at Athera of the fully human antibody PC-MAb is not affected by the termination of the agreement, which was entered into last year (The Pharma Letter June 19, 2013).

Athera’s fully human monoclonal antibody PC-MAb is intended for the treatment of patients with cardiovascular disease, who are at an increased risk of secondary events and death. Boehringer Ingelheim’s decision to terminate the option agreement has been made as a consequence of a re-focus in its corporate R&D strategy. Athera’s ongoing Phase I study with PC-MAb will proceed as planned and the co-financing of future development costs through the EU FP7 program CARDIMMUN is not affected by Boehringer Ingelheim’s decision.