AC Immune partners with Piramal to commercialize tau agents

Piramal Imaging announced today that the company has settled into a global license agreement with Swiss bioresearch firm AC Immune for further development and commercialization of tau-protein PET agents designed to aid in the diagnosis of neurodegenerative disease, including Alzheimer’s disease (AD).

In addition to beta amyloid deposition, the presence of tau tangles in the brain is associated with cognitive decline and is therefore considered an important biomarker for dementia imaging and for aiding clinical trials for potential drug therapies.

"We are delighted to be working with Piramal Imaging as a partner of choice given their proven experience in PET tracer development, especially in the Alzheimer's field,” AC Immune chief executive officer Andrea Pfeifer, PhD, said in a press release. “The collaboration is an important endorsement of AC Immune's capacity to develop both diagnostic and therapeutic agents in managing this devastating disease. This move into diagnostics complements our Tau therapeutic product pipeline exemplified by the Tau antibody partnership with Genentech and the first pTau vaccine ACI-35 now in clinical development for AD. Diagnostics is a natural strategic step for the company and is expected to generate significant and fast revenues from product sales."

In the new agreement, AC Immune will be paid an undisclosed amount on the outset and will continue to receive payment after diagnostic agents reach important benchmarks in development. Tiered royalties will also be provided from net product sales once tau drugs go to market. Piramal and AC Immune will be working together to bring leading PET agents into preclinical trials. Worldwide, exclusive rights to manufacture and commercialize these drugs is now Piramal’s.

"This collaboration with AC Immune is an important next step in our mission to developing molecular imaging innovations that allow an earlier and more accurate diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease,” added Piramal Imaging board director Ludger Dinkelborg, PhD. “So far there are no approved imaging technologies to detect Tau protein in patients, presenting a challenge in AD diagnosis and the development of disease modifying treatments. We are impressed by the quality of AC Immune's innovative Tau-PET tracer program and are looking forward to working with the team at AC Immune, who has a proven track record in effective partnerships."

The partnership was struck on the basis of their existing collaboration involving the just-approved PET tracer Neuraceq. AC Immune has been using Piramal’s agent in the former’s clinical trials for phase I and II trials of the AD vaccine ACI-24.