Pfizer has licensed non-exclusive, worldwide rights to Xoma Ltd.'s bacterial cell expression (BCE) technology for phage display and other research, development and manufacturing of antibody products.

Under the terms of the agreement, Xoma will receive an upfront cash payment of $30 million and milestone, royalty and other fees on future sales of all products subject to this license, including products currently in late-stage clinical development.

Steven Engle, chief executive officer and president of Xoma, said, "This agreement provides clear validation of Xoma's antibody research and affirms Xoma's ability to capitalize on the value of our patented technologies. We continue to execute our strategy of using our technologies to generate high-margin revenue in support of our programs, including our proprietary product pipeline. We are very pleased that Pfizer has chosen to incorporate our BCE technology into their global drug development effort, and we look forward to what we anticipate will be a mutually beneficial relationship.

"BCE is an enabling technology for antibody phage display discovery and for the manufacture of bacterially expressed therapeutic antibody products," Mr. Engle continued. "It is a proven technology for commercially significant therapeutic antibodies as demonstrated by the approval of Lucentis for wet age-related macular degeneration. With more than 45 license agreements in place, BCE continues to be a seminal enabling technology in antibody discovery and production."

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