Lilly And AC Immune Enter Into License And Collaboration Agreement

(RTTNews) - Eli Lilly and Co. (LLY) and AC Immune SA (ACIU) said that they have signed a license and collaboration agreement to research and develop tau aggregation inhibitor small molecules for the potential treatment of Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative diseases.

The collaboration combines AC Immune's proprietary Morphomer platform technology with Lilly's clinical development expertise and commercial capabilities in central nervous system disorders. The collaboration will focus primarily on AC Immune's lead molecule, ACI-3024, which has demonstrated tau aggregation inhibition in preclinical models.

As per the terms of the agreement, AC Immune will receive an upfront payment of 80 million Swiss francs as well as $50 million in exchange for a note, convertible to equity at a premium. AC Immune is also eligible to receive CHF60 million in potential near-term development milestones, as well as other potential development, regulatory and commercial milestones up to about 1.7 billion francs, and tiered royalty payments in the low double digits.

Eli Lilly noted that there will be no change to its 2018 non-GAAP earnings per share guidance as a result of this transaction.