mAb money tree

Not for the first time, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:REGN) translated its VelocImmune antibody discovery technology into a deal that is heavy on guaranteed money. Last week, Astellas Pharma Inc. (Toyko:4053) paid $165 million in cash to extend its non-exclusive licensing arrangement through 2017. The Japanese pharma received an option to pay another $130 million in 2018 to extend the agreement until 2023.

The deal replaces one signed in 2007 in which Astellas agreed to make annual license payments of $20 million through 2012 for non-exclusive rights to the technology, a mouse-based production platform for discovering human mAbs...