XOMA and Servier sign manufacturing deal with Boehringer for gevokizumab

US therapeutic antibody discovery firm XOMA Corp (Nasdaq: XOMA) its partner France’s Laboratoires Servier have entered into an agreement with German independent drug major Boehringer Ingelheim to transfer XOMA's technology and process for the commercial manufacture of gevokizumab, a novel interleukin 1-beta (IL-1beta) allosteric modulating antibody.

XOMA and privately-held Servier partnered on the development of the product, previously code-named XOMA 052, under a deal worth a potential $835 million to the US company (The Pharma Letter January 5, 2011). Financial terms of the deal with Boehringer Ingelheim were not revealed.

Gevokizumab currently is in Phase III clinical development in patients with non-infectious 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. On 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. XOMA and Servier retain all rights to the development and commercialization of gevokizumab.