Bayer Schering Pharma Signs Antibody Licensing Agreement

Bayer AG's (BAY.XE) pharmaceuticals business Bayer Schering Pharma AG said Monday it has acquired an exclusive option for a collaboration and licensing agreement with Micromet, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company developing antibodies for the treatment of cancer, inflammation and autoimmune diseases.

Bayer Schering Pharma will pay Micromet a EUR4.5 million fee to secure a one-year option on a specific BiTE antibody.

Exercising this option prior to Jan. 5, 2010 through an additional payment would trigger a joint collaboration on the development of the BiTE antibody against a solid tumor target through the completion of Phase I clinical trials, at which point Bayer Schering Pharma would assume full control of the further development and commercialization of the antibody. Micromet would be eligible for an option exercise fee and milestone payments of up to EUR290 million in total and up to double-digit royalties based on tiered net sales of the product.

"Oncology is one of our core growth areas and biologicals are a key focus of our strategy. We are excited about Micromet's BiTE antibody technology and believe BiTE antibodies represent a novel and promising approach to cancer therapy," said Andreas Busch, Member of the Board of Management of Bayer Schering Pharma AG responsible for Global Drug Discovery.

"We are very pleased with Bayer's interest in this preclinical BiTE antibody program and their financial commitment to secure exclusive access for the next 12 months. This deal represents further validation of BiTE antibody technology by a major oncology company," said Christian Itin, Micromet's Chief Executive Officer.

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