BASEL, Switzerland, March 16, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- 4-Antibody AG today announces a major long-term collaboration with Boehringer Ingelheim to discover and to develop fully human therapeutic antibodies for a number of targets in various disease indications. 4-Antibody will use its proprietary and unencumbered Hu-PAC(R) and Retrocyte Display(R) technologies for the discovery and development of fully human antibodies against novel targets nominated by Boehringer Ingelheim. 4-Antibody AG will receive payments of up to EUR 177.5 million (CHF 266 million) including upfront and milestone payments from Boehringer Ingelheim upon achievement of certain clinical development milestones. Further financial details were not disclosed.

Dr. Ulf Grawunder, co-founder and CSO of 4-Antibody AG, said This is a landmark agreement for 4-Antibody. We are delighted to commence a long-term collaboration with Boehringer Ingelheim and to apply the strength of 4-Antibody's fully human antibody discovery and engineering platforms to create valuable potential new drug candidates. Our unique and unencumbered technology capabilities allow the efficient generation of novel or improved fully human antibodies against any target class for our collaboration partners and for our own clinical development pipeline.

About 4-Antibody AG

4-Antibody AG is a privately held Swiss Biotech company active in the area of therapeutic antibody drug development. 4-Antibody AG has developed a portfolio of powerful, proprietary antibody discovery and engineering platforms, including the Hu-PAC(R) and the Retrocyte Display(R) technologies. 4-Antibody AG owns four patent families related to therapeutic antibody discovery platforms and products, including more than a dozen of granted patents worldwide. The company has 40 employees working at its headquarter in Basel, Switzerland, and its subsidiary in Jena, Germany.

4-Antibody AG Schwarzwaldallee 215 CH-4056 Basel, Switzerland Phone: +41-61-697-1351 FAX: +41-61-697-1350 info@4-antibody.com http://www.4-antibody.com

SOURCE: 4-Antibody AG

CONTACT: 4-Antibody AG, Schwarzwaldallee 215, CH-4056 Basel, Switzerland,Phone: +41-61-697-1351, FAX: +41-61-697-1350, info@4-antibody.com