Ferring announces 30 million CHF investment in new biotech centre in Switzerland

• Ferring expands its capabilities in biologics through a new biotech centre, which will be installed at its global headquarters and manufacturing site in St Prex, Switzerland

• Ferring Biotech Centre will incorporate discovery and development capabilities for monoclonal antibodies as well as manufacturing capabilities for biologics

• In addition to new biologics in reproductive medicine and women’s health, fertility treatment Rekovelle® (follitropin delta) will also be manufactured at the new centre

Saint-Prex, Switzerland – 14 February 2018 –

Ferring Pharmaceuticals announced today that it is expanding its capabilities in biologics through a new biotech centre which will be installed at the company’s existing headquarters and manufacturing site in Saint-Prex, Switzerland.

Over the next three years, Ferring will invest approximately 30 million CHF in the new Ferring Biotech Centre, which will incorporate discovery and development capabilities for monoclonal antibodies as well as biologics manufacturing capabilities.

“Ferring is committed to investing in innovative technology platforms to create new solutions for patients in our core areas of reproductive medicine and women’s health, gastroenterology and urology,” said Michel Pettigrew, President of the Executive Board and Chief Operating Officer, Ferring Pharmaceuticals. “This significant investment in state-of-the art manufacturing and development technologies fits our strategy to address unmet patient needs in these areas, and will open up additional opportunities for Ferring to help people live better lives.”

In addition to the discovery, development and manufacture of new biologics, the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) for Rekovelle^® (follitropin delta), Ferring’s latest fertility treatment, will also be manufactured at the new Ferring Biotech Centre.

Earlier this year, Ferring announced a worldwide license agreement with Ligand Pharmaceuticals to use Ligand’s OmniAb platform^® to discover new human monoclonal antibodies and accelerate development solutions for unmet patient needs in reproductive medicine and women’s health, urology and gastroenterology. Together, these investments significantly expand Ferring’s growing capabilities in biologics to create innovative solutions for patients.

– ENDS –

About Ferring Pharmaceuticals

Ferring Pharmaceuticals is a research-driven, speciality biopharmaceutical group committed to helping people around the world build families and live better lives. Headquartered in Saint-Prex, Switzerland, Ferring is a leader in reproductive medicine and women’s health, and in specialty areas within gastroenterology and urology. Ferring has been developing treatments for mothers and babies for over 50 years. Today, over one third of the company’s research and development investment goes towards finding innovative and personalised healthcare solutions to help mothers and babies, from conception to birth. Founded in 1950, Ferring now employs approximately 6,500 people worldwide, has its own operating subsidiaries in nearly 60 countries and markets its products in 110 countries.

Learn more at www.ferring.com and @Ferring, or connect with us on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.

For more information, please contact

Lindsey Rodger
Senior Manager, Corporate Communications
+41 58 451 40 23 (direct)
+41 79 191 0486 (mobile)
lindsey.rodger@ferring.com

Bhavin Vaid
Head of Corporate Communications
+41 58 301 09 52 (direct)
+41 79 191 06 32 (mobile)
bhavin.vaid@ferring.com

Ferring Announces Recipients of Innovation Grants Program 2017-2018

Saint-Prex, Switzerland – 26 January, 2018 –

Ferring Pharmaceuticals today announced the recipients of the 2017-2018 Innovation Grants Program, an annual initiative of the Ferring Research Institute (FRI) based in San Diego. This global program supports research in the fields of reproductive medicine and women’s health, urology, gastroenterology, hepatology, and endocrinology.

“The quality of applications received in response to the 2017-2018 Ferring Innovation Grants call for proposals was outstanding.  We have funded programs that we believe represent the leading edge of research in their therapeutic fields, and very much look forward to seeing the outcome of the innovative projects proposed by this year’s grant awardees,” said Keith James, President Ferring Research Institute, Senior Vice President Research and Development.

Now in its fifth year, the Innovation Grants Program received 300 submissions. Each submission was reviewed for its scientific merit, and a short list of finalists were invited to submit more detailed applications for consideration.  A total of 13 projects were chosen to receive grant funding from Ferring this year. In addition to the United States, projects have been funded in Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Portugal. This year’s recipients, together with the grant titles, are: 

• Stéphane Bolduc – CHU de Québec – Université Laval Research Center
  Identify protein(s) secreted by urothelial cell carcinoma (UCC) involved in modification of tumor-associated stroma by activation of Cancer-Associated Fibroblasts (CAF).

• Marcello Costa – Flinders University
  Enteric neuropeptides modulation of colonic motility in health and disease

• Warren Foster – McMaster University
  Evaluation of a novel therapeutic intervention for the management of endometriosis in a mouse model

• Andrew Horne – University of Edinburgh
  Targeting TGFβ-1 with an extracellular peptide inhibitor to treat women with peritoneal endometriosis

• Joseph Hurt – University of Colorado School of Medicine
  Adiponectin receptor regulation of myometrial contractility suggests novel therapeutic targets to augment uterine quiescence and prevent preterm birth

• Ursula Kaiser – Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School
  Differential modulation of LH and FSH by GnRH analogs for improved treatment of reproductive disorders

• Sarah Marshall – Monash University
  Exploring novel therapies for preeclampsia: the role of soluble prorenin receptor on vasculature function

• Kathryn Meier – Washington State University
  FSH receptor as a therapeutic target in prostate cancer

• Victor Navarro – Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School
  Targeting the Kappa Opioid Receptor to Regulate LH Pulses in PCOS Patients

• Willis Samson – Saint Louis University School of Medicine
  A Novel Ligand (Adropin) – Receptor (GPR19) Handshake: Implications for the Control of Growth Hormone Secretion

• John Taylor – Kansas University Medical Center
  The Role of d-Dopachrome Tautomerase in Bladder Cancer Tumorigenesis

• Suraj Unniappan – University of Saskatchewan
• Nesfatin-1 and Nesfatin-1 Like Peptide Regulation of Growth and Stress Hormones: Novel Targets for Endocrine Diseases

• Henrique Veiga-Fernandes – Champalimaud Foundation
  Activation of type 3 Innate Lymphoid Cells and innate IL-22 secretion via RET signaling for Inflammatory Bowel Disease treatment

About Ferring Pharmaceuticals

Ferring Pharmaceuticals is a research-driven, speciality biopharmaceutical group committed to helping people around the world build families and live better lives. Headquartered in Saint-Prex, Switzerland, Ferring is a leader in reproductive medicine and women’s health, and in specialty areas within gastroenterology and urology. Ferring has been developing treatments for mothers and babies for over 50 years. Today, over one third of the company’s research and development investment goes towards finding innovative and personalised healthcare solutions to help mothers and babies, from conception to birth. Founded in 1950, Ferring now employs approximately 7,000 people worldwide, has its own operating subsidiaries in nearly 60 countries and markets its products in 110 countries.

Learn more at www.ferring.com and @Ferring, or connect with us on Facebook and LinkedIn.

About Ferring Research Institute Inc

Located in San Diego, California Ferring Research Institute Inc. (FRI) is a global therapeutics research center for Ferring Pharmaceuticals.  FRI is committed to delivering a pipeline of innovative therapies which improve the lives of patients in the areas of reproductive medicine and women’s health, urology, gastroenterology and hepatology.

For more detailed information please visit www.ferring-research.com.

For more information, please contact

Lindsey Rodger
Senior Manager, Corporate Communications
+41 58 451 40 23 (direct)
+41 79 191 0486 (mobile)
lindsey.rodger@ferring.com

Bhavin Vaid
Head of Corporate Communications
+41 58 301 09 52 (direct)
+41 79 191 06 32 (mobile)
bhavin.vaid@ferring.com

Ferring enters into worldwide OmniAb® platform license agreement with Ligand

• Ferring Pharmaceuticals will use Ligand’s OmniAb^® platform to discover new human monoclonal antibodies

• Through this platform, Ferring aims to accelerate development solutions for unmet patient needs in reproductive medicine and women’s health, urology and gastroenterology

• Agreement expands Ferring’s growing capabilities in biologics to create innovative solutions for patients and doctors

Saint-Prex, Switzerland – 22 January 2018 –

Ferring Pharmaceuticals announced today that it has entered into a worldwide license agreement with Ligand Pharmaceuticals to use Ligand’s OmniAb platform^® to discover new human monoclonal antibodies for a range of indications. Under the agreement, Ferring will use OmniAb to accelerate development solutions for unmet patient needs in reproductive medicine and women’s health, urology and gastroenterology.

“Antibody-based therapies improve the quality of life and care for patients with a wide range of conditions but have not been fully investigated, in particular in the area of reproductive medicine and women’s health,” said Armin Metzger, Senior Vice President, Head of Global Pharmaceutical Research and Development, Ferring Pharmaceuticals. “This agreement expands Ferring’s growing capabilities in biologics and broadens our historical focus on peptides, opening up significant opportunities for discoveries that will help patients to live better lives.”

Ligand’s OmniAb^® platforms produce highly diversified, fully human antibody repertoires optimized in vivo (in a living organism) for therapeutic efficacy and reduced immunogenicity.

Ligand is eligible to receive annual platform access payments, development and regulatory milestone payments, and tiered royalties for each product developed by Ferring that incorporates an OmniAb antibody. Specific financial details of this transaction are not disclosed.

– ENDS –

About Ferring Pharmaceuticals

Ferring Pharmaceuticals is a research-driven, speciality biopharmaceutical group committed to helping people around the world build families and live better lives. Headquartered in Saint-Prex, Switzerland, Ferring is a leader in reproductive medicine and women’s health, and in specialty areas within gastroenterology and urology. Ferring has been developing treatments for mothers and babies for over 50 years. Today, over one third of the company’s research and development investment goes towards finding innovative and personalised healthcare solutions to help mothers and babies, from conception to birth. Founded in 1950, Ferring now employees approximately 7,000 people worldwide, has its own operating subsidiaries in nearly 60 countries and markets its products in 110 countries.

For further information, visit www.ferring.com.

Ferring is on Twitter. Follow us @Ferring at http://twitter.com/Ferring

About OmniAb®

OmniAb is a three-species transgenic-animal platform consisting of four different technologies used for producing mono- and bispecific human therapeutic antibodies. OmniRat® is the industry’s first human monoclonal antibody technology based on rats. It has a complete immune system with a diverse antibody repertoire and generates antibodies with human idiotypes as effectively as wild-type animals make rat antibodies. OmniMouse® is a transgenic mouse that complements OmniRat and expands epitope coverage. OmniFlic® is an engineered rat with a fixed light chain for development of bispecific, fully human antibodies. OmniChicken™ is the industry’s first human monoclonal antibody technology based on chickens. The four technologies use patented technology, have broad freedom to operate and deliver fully human antibodies with high affinity, specificity, expression, solubility and stability.

About Ligand Pharmaceuticals

Ligand is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing or acquiring technologies that help pharmaceutical companies discover and develop medicines. Our business model creates value for stockholders by providing a diversified portfolio of biotech and pharmaceutical product revenue streams that are supported by an efficient and low corporate cost structure. Our goal is to offer investors an opportunity to participate in the promise of the biotech industry in a profitable, diversified and lower-risk business than a typical biotech company. Our business model is based on doing what we do best: drug discovery, early-stage drug development, product reformulation and partnering. We partner with other pharmaceutical companies to leverage what they do best (late-stage development, regulatory management and commercialization) to ultimately generate our revenue. Ligand’s Captisol^® platform technology is a patent-protected, chemically modified cyclodextrin with a structure designed to optimize the solubility and stability of drugs. OmniAb® is a patent-protected transgenic animal platform used in the discovery of fully human mono-and bispecific therapeutic antibodies. Ligand has established multiple alliances, licenses and other business relationships with the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies including Novartis, Amgen, Merck, Pfizer, Celgene, Gilead, Janssen, Baxter International and Eli Lilly.

For more information, please contact

Lindsey Rodger
Senior Manager, Corporate Communications
+41 58 451 40 23 (direct)
+41 79 191 0486 (mobile)
lindsey.rodger@ferring.com

Bhavin Vaid
Head of Corporate Communications
+41 58 301 09 52 (direct)
+41 79 191 06 32 (mobile)
bhavin.vaid@ferring.com

Ferring and the Chinese Academy of Sciences collaborate to advance research in reproductive medicine

• Long-term collaboration will focus on scientific research in reproductive medicine that may lead to new treatments for fertility and pregnancy-related conditions

• Dedicated joint institute will explore novel technologies in stem cell and regenerative medicine, and identify new targets for drug-discovery

• Ferring and Chinese Academy of Sciences are both committed to addressing unmet needs in reproductive medicine and women’s health

Saint-Prex, Switzerland – 11 January 2018 –

Ferring Pharmaceuticals and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) today announced a long-term collaboration to advance basic and translational research in reproductive medicine through the development of novel product candidates and therapeutic strategies.

As part of the agreement, a new jointly funded laboratory will be created within the CAS research facility in Beijing, China. Known as the ‘Ferring Institute of Reproductive Medicine’, the facility will bring together researchers from both Ferring and CAS to find solutions to address global challenges in fertility and high rates of obstetric complications.

“Across the world, too many couples still face considerable challenges when trying to become families,” said Per Falk, Executive Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer, Ferring Pharmaceuticals. “This collaboration forms the next phase in our ongoing efforts to advance knowledge and care in reproductive medicine and women’s health. Working together we hope to gain a deeper understanding of fertility and implantation and discover new solutions that could transform the way in which reproductive medicine is managed in the future.”

“Our collaboration with Ferring will expand our research base into the translational space and together we will rapidly expand our tool set to look at truly transformational ideas in reproductive medicine,” said Prof Hongmei Wang, Director of the State Key Laboratory of Stem Cell and Reproductive Biology at the Institute of Stem Cell and Regeneration, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

For CAS, the collaboration will provide additional expertise and funding to support their world-class stem cell research and regenerative medicine programme, a core element of their Innovation 2030: Building Tomorrow initiative. For Ferring, the collaboration will help to identify new therapeutic concepts and targets that will enable the discovery of novel drug candidates that may be further developed to address unmet needs in reproductive medicine and women’s health.

“CAS is already recognised as a leading life science institute for our early basic research in reproductive biology, which covers most aspects of female and male infertility and obstetric complications,” said Prof Qi Zhou, Director of the Institute of Stem Cell and Regeneration and the Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. “We welcome this collaboration which will help us to reach our Innovation 2030 goal and improve reproductive health both in China and worldwide.”

– ENDS –

About Ferring Pharmaceuticals

Headquartered in Saint-Prex, Switzerland, Ferring Pharmaceuticals is a research-driven, specialty biopharmaceutical group active in global markets. A leader in reproductive medicine and women’s health, Ferring has been developing treatments for mothers and babies for over 50 years. Today, over one third of the company’s research and development investment goes towards finding innovative treatments to help mothers and babies, from conception to birth. The company also identifies, develops and markets innovative products in the areas of urology, gastroenterology, endocrinology and orthopaedics. Ferring has its own operating subsidiaries in nearly 60 countries and markets its products in 110 countries.

For further information on Ferring or its products, visit www.ferring.com.

Ferring is on Twitter. Follow us @FerringNews at http://twitter.com/FerringNews

About the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS)

The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) is the largest national research organisation in China focused on exploring and harnessing technology and the natural sciences for the benefit of China and the world. CAS comprises 104 research institutes, containing in excess of 300 national and CAS key labs and engineering centres, 12 branch academies, three universities and 11 supporting organisations in 23 provincial-level areas across the country. With over 68,000 researchers, CAS brings together scientists and engineers from China and around the world to conduct research in most areas of breakthrough science and technology.

Ferring Corporate Communications Team

Lindsey Rodger
Senior Manager, Corporate Communications
+41 58 451 4023 (direct)
+41 79 191 0486 (mobile)
lindsey.rodger@ferring.com

Bhavin Vaid
Head of Corporate Communications
+41 58 301 0952 (direct)
+41 79 191 0632 (mobile)
bhavin.vaid@ferring.com

Chinese Academy of Sciences