Alchemab Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company aiming to identify and develop naturally occurring therapeutic antibodies from resilient individuals, has announced that it has entered a collaboration with Lilly to discover novel therapeutic candidates to treat amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

Alchemab's technology platform uses patient samples from individuals with unusually slow rates of disease progression to identify antibodies associated with resilience. Alchemab believes that these antibodies, which are not found in disease progressors, could present therapeutic opportunities.

Alchemab has acquired hundreds of ALS samples, and this collaboration will leverage Alchemab's technology to identify antibodies associated with resilience in ALS patient samples and advance the most promising candidates.

Commenting on the development, Alchemab's Chief Executive Officer, Jane Osbourn, said, “We have shown that our novel, differentiated antibody discovery platform can lead to insights into how an individual's immune response can generate potent, selective, and unique antibodies with therapeutic potential. Guided by patients' biological response to disease, Alchemab's platform yields both novel targets and potential therapies in one process.”

She further added, “ALS is a devastating disease and an area of significant unmet medical need. Our collaboration with Lilly enables us to apply our novel approach to a hugely important disease in partnership with one of the most respected names in pharma. We are looking forward to working together to discover and develop novel targets and therapies for ALS patients.”

Under the terms of the agreement, Alchemab will collaborate with Lilly to discover, develop and commercialise up to five novel therapeutics. Alchemab will receive an undisclosed upfront payment and is eligible to receive discovery, development and commercialisation milestone payments, plus royalties.

ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, is a rare and terminal neurodegenerative disease for which there is no known cure. Early symptoms of ALS include stiff muscles, muscle twitches, gradual increasing weakness, and muscle wasting that results in the progressive loss of motor neurons that control voluntary muscles, leading to difficulties in speaking, swallowing, walking, and breathing. The average survival from onset to death is two to four years, though this can vary, and about 10 percent of those affected survive longer than ten years.