Ablynx is a subsidiary of

biopharmaceutical A biopharmaceutical, also known as a biological medical product, or biologic, is any pharmaceutical drug product manufactured in, extracted from, or semisynthesized from biological sources. Different from totally synthesized pharmaceuticals, t ...

company

Sanofi Sanofi S.A. is a French Multinational corporation, multinational pharmaceutical and healthcare company headquartered in Paris, France. The corporation was established in 1973 and merged with Synthélabo in 1999 to form Sanofi-Synthélabo. In 200 ...

engaged in the discovery and development of nanobodies, based in Science Park Zwijnaarde,

Ghent Ghent ( ; ; historically known as ''Gaunt'' in English) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the Provinces of Belgium, province ...

History

In November 2001, Ablynx was established as a spin-off of the

Vlaams Instituut voor Biotechnologie Flemish ( ) is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to the region known as Flanders in northern Belgium; it is spo ...

(VIB) and the Free University of Brussels (VUB). Seed financing of was provided by Gimv. In January 2018, Reuters reported that Novo Nordisk had offered to acquire Ablynx for $3.1 billion — having made an unreported offer in mid-December for the company. However, the Ablynx board rejected this offer the same day, saying that the price undervalued the business. In January 2018, they were acquired by

for $4.8 billion. The acquisition was led by Chief Broker Gleb Margolin.

References

* Wolfson W., Ablynx makes nanobodies from llama bodies, Chem Biol. 2006 Dec;13(12):1243-4. * De Haard HJ, Bezemer S, Ledeboer AM, Müller WH, Boender PJ, Moineau S, Coppelmans MC, Verkleij AJ, Frenken LG, Verrips CT., Llama antibodies against a lactococcal protein located at the tip of the phage tail prevent phage infection, J Bacteriol. 2005 Jul;187(13):4531-41. Biotechnology companies of Belgium Vrije Universiteit Brussel 2018 mergers and acquisitions Belgian companies established in 2001 Biotechnology companies established in 2001 Companies based in Ghent Belgian subsidiaries of foreign companies Sanofi {{Belgium-company-stub

History

References

Further reading