Molecular Partners Comments on Allergan’s Progress in Phase IIa Retinal Disease Trial using anti-VEGF DARPin

Apr 05 2012

ZURICH-SCHLIEREN, Switzerland—Molecular Partners AG today commented on the recent progress with its anti-VEGF DARPin (AGN-150998/MP0112), which is being developed in partnership with Allergan for ocular indications. Allergan announced last week at their R&D day that the compound
successfully completed phase IIa development. AGN-150998/MP0112 was shown to be safe and well tolerated, with no dose limiting toxicity, after a single administration. Further, preliminary efficacy results from this study suggest a dosing interval of up to 3 months. Based on these results, Allergan has
initiated a double-masked Phase IIb study comparing two high doses of AGN-150998/MP0112 with Lucentis, the current standard of care.

Michael Stumpp, Ph.D., Chief Science Officer of Molecular Partners, commented: “We are very pleased with the rapid progress of the studies performed by Allergan and the safety profile of the anti-VEGF DARPin. The fact that no dose-limiting adverse effects were observed, even at the highest doses,
underlines the potential of the product. The observed treatment effects on macular edema were potentially meaningful due to the fact that the study was conducted in anti-VEGF refractory patients, where other treatments provide little, if any, therapeutic benefit. We are excited to partner with Allergan in developing this new treatment for retinal diseases.”  AGN-150998/MP0112 is an anti-VEGF DARPin, a small therapeutic protein that is potent, stable, and
soluble with favorable pharmacokinetics. The possibility for achieving a sustained therapeutic effect without the need for initial loading doses would be a meaningful benefit for patients, physicians and payers.

“These results reported by Allergan not only underline the initial safety profile of the DARPins in patients, but also show that our platform allows us to build novel drug candidates with the potential for significant differentiation over standard of care for true patient value,“ said Christian Zahnd, Ph.D., Chief
Executive Officer of Molecular Partners. “We are also very pleased to see the high commitment of Allergan for the anti-VEGF DARPin and the quality of the collaboration in which we were able to hand over the program to Allergan and achieve these results earlier than expected.”

For further details please contact:

Media relations: College Hill Life Sciences For Molecular Partners
Nicole Yost
[email protected]

Dr. Christian Zahnd, CEO
[email protected]

Daniel Gooch
[email protected]

Dr. Patrick Amstutz, CBO
[email protected]
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7866 7855 or 7866 Tel: +41 (0) 44 755 77 00

Notes to editors:
About Molecular Partners AG (www.molecularpartners.com)
Molecular Partners is a privately-owned biotech company focusing on the research, development and commercialization of a novel class of biological drugs known as DARPins®. The company is committed to create medicines for diseases with unmet medical need and to dramatically improve existing therapies.
DARPins® combine the high specificity, selectivity and safety of monoclonal antibodies with many advantages of small molecules, including high stability and low-cost production and adding the ability of combining multiple specificities.  Molecular Partners has established a strong DARPin® pipeline which is well differentiated from standard therapeutic approaches. Molecular Partners is focusing on DARPin® drugs in inflammation, oncology, ophthalmology and other disease areas. The most advanced DARPin (MP0112) is in phase II clinical development partnered with Allergan. The internal pipeline is expanded by partnered programs with leading pharmaceutical companies. Molecular Partners has established collaborations with Allergan, F. Hoffmann-la Roche, Janssen Biotech and Bayer Schering Pharma. The company is backed by a strong syndicate of investors and holds a strong patent estate covering all DARPin® applications.

About DARPins®
DARPins® are a new generation of target-binding proteins. The DARPin® platform is a dynamic product engine creating new and transforming drugs that are of the highest quality and are developed at unmatched speed and robustness. Each drug candidate can profit from a wide range of benefits,
including the highest affinity, stability and solubility, simple and low-cost production, as well as an optimal pharmacokinetic (PK) profile, tailored to the demand of the application, ranging from minutes to weeks. DARPins® can be effortlessly combined into multispecific drug candidates without compromising
development characteristics. This rapid and robust generation of multispecific DARPins® allows new approaches in combinatorial profiling of target biology.