Ono Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., a Japan-based pharmaceutical company, announced on Friday that it has entered an option and research collaboration agreement with Monash University (Melbourne, Victoria, Australia) to discover and develop antibodies targeting at G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), in order to create novel therapeutics for the treatment of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases.

Under the terms of the agreement, Monash University's Biomedicine Discovery Institute will lead the antibody discovery campaign to target two GPCRs traditionally hard to target. Ono will obtain exclusive worldwide rights to develop and commercialise some existing antibodies Monash has developed, in addition to any antibodies arising out of the drug discovery collaboration. Ono will make an upfront payment to Monash University with the research funding during the option period. If Ono exercises its option under the agreement, Ono will pay to Monash University milestones on progress of clinical development and sales, as well as royalties based on future net sales.

'We appreciate Monash University's sophisticated technologies for antibody discovery which enables the creation of therapeutic antibodies using monoclonal antibodies against GPCR,' said Toichi Takino, senior executive officer/executive director, Discovery & Research of Ono. 'Through this collaboration with Monash University, we expect to increase the efficiency of finding new drug candidates that fulfil unmet medical needs in autoimmune and inflammatory diseases.'