PanGenetics has struck gold following the sale of a treatment it is developing for chronic pain to healthcare giant, Abbott Laboratories, for over £100 million.

The deal will be a massive boon for the Royston and Netherlands-based firm that only raised its first seed funding round four years ago.

Followed by over €36 million of venture capital financing since then, the company has managed to take PG110, a novel biologic that targets Nerve Growth Factor (NGF) for the treatment of chronic pain, into a Phase I clinical trial in patients with osteoarthritis.

PG110 is a humanised antibody that strongly binds to NGF, which itself is released at sites of tissue damage and inflammation and plays a significant role in the transmission of pain signals by the central nervous system.

An upfront payment of $170 million (£102m) to PanGenetics will hand Abbott the global rights to PG110 with additional milestone payments for a total of up to $190m (£115m) potentially taking the deal past £215m.

Abbot cites pain as the number one reason people go to see a doctor and with an estimated 72 million diagnosed chronic pain patients in the US and EU – 30 per cent of which get inadequate relief according to Abbott – the potential market is enormous.

“The goal for treatment of chronic pain continues to be potent, long-lasting analgesia that is tolerable for patients without the potential for dependence and abuse,” said John Leonard, senior vice president, global R & D at Abbott.

“NGF blockers have demonstrated the potential to address all of these needs, making them a promising treatment for chronic pain patients.”

If the Phase I trial is successful, Abbott is expected to evaluate the compound in a number of other pain states including chronic lower back pain, cancer pain and diabetic neuropathic pain.

As well as the resources to take drugs right through development – Abbott has 72,000 employees and a market capitalisation of over $80bn – the US company has solid experience of working with Cambridge biotechs and taking antibody technology right through to market, having collaborated with Cambridge Antibody Technology (CAT) on the blockbuster arthritis drug, Humira, the East of England’s only blockbuster to date.

Chief technology officer at CAT during that deal was Kevin Johnson, now CEO at PanGenetics. “We are very pleased to hand the keys of the development of our anti-NGF antibody to such an outstanding organisation as Abbott and one which is fully committed to bringing breakthrough new therapies to the marketplace,” said Johnson.

Together with a CD40 antagonist that is being evaluated in a clinical study for use in autoimmune indications, PG110 is the most advanced programme at PanGenetics, which has its headquarters in Uthecht, Netherlands, as well as the Cambridge development base.

The deal is subject to certain customary conditions and regulatory approvals and is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2009.