Bayer signs deal with adivo to develop antibodies for veterinary medicine

Under the terms of the agreement, Bayer Animal Health will have access to adivo’s species-specific monoclonal antibody technology.

Germany: Bayer Animal Health GmbH and adivo GmbH have signed a global collaboration agreement to develop therapeutic antibodies for veterinary medicine. Under the terms of the agreement, Bayer Animal Health will have access to adivo’s species-specific monoclonal antibody technology. Financial terms were not disclosed.

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Bayer Animal Health and adivo have agreed to jointly discover and develop species-specific therapeutic monoclonal antibodies that address the demand for innovative therapies for companion animals.

The companies aim to provide veterinarians with new and innovative treatments that address unmet medical needs of their animal patients. adivo will select species-specific antibodies using its proprietary fully canine phage display library. Bayer Animal Health will provide targets involved in severe animal diseases.

Commenting on the collaboration, Dr Douglas Hutchens, Bayer Animal Health’s Head of Drug Discovery, External Innovation & Chief Veterinary Officer, said, “Today’s agreement is another example of how we realize our innovation strategy: By combining the know-how from creative start-up companies like adivo with opportunities derived from Bayer’s research, we broaden our space of therapeutic medicine options and complement our portfolio."

"We are constantly looking for innovative technologies that enable us to generate novel treatment options for the companion animal sector. Now, we will focus on evolving the options presented by adivo from research and development to market maturity,” he added.

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Dr Kathrin Ladetzki-Baehs, Managing Director of adivo commented, “At adivo, we truly believe that pets have a positive impact on our society. By developing novel medicines for companion animals, we want to make a difference for veterinarians and pet-parents. Today, we are more than pleased and excited to have gained such a committed and experienced collaboration partner, to jointly develop new treatment options.”

To date, therapeutic antibodies still represent a neglected class of drugs in veterinary medicine. However, these molecules offer a variety of future therapeutic options for diseases that still cannot be adequately treated today.

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