BioCentury
ARTICLE | Strategy

Selling mouse futures

Ablexis, investors using open licensing model for quick ROI from AlivaMab mouse

January 31, 2011 8:00 AM UTC

The two most popular mouse platforms to discover human antibodies, Abgenix Inc.'s XenoMouse and Medarex Inc.'s HuMAb Mouse, have been licensed only once since Abgenix was acquired by Amgen Inc. in 2005 and Medarex was acquired by Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. in 2009. Ablexis LLC hopes to fill the gap in the marketplace with its next-generation AlivaMab Mouse and a licensing model that provides a quick ROI for its investors.

Ablexis has released few details about its platform. However, CEO Larry Green told BioCentury the company uses bacterial artificial chromosomes (BACs) to generate transgenic mice that have been previously impossible to make...