INDUSTRIAL IMPACT
Adcentrx Therapeutics | February 15, 2022
Adcentrx Therapeutics a biotechnology company focused on accelerating breakthroughs in antibody drug conjugate ("ADC") therapeutic development, and AvantGen, a leader in the use of yeast display technology for human antibody discovery and optimization, announced today a three-year, multi-target partnership for the discovery of antibodies to be developed into novel ADC therapeutic candidates.
Under the terms of the collaboration, Adcentrx will specify targets against which AvantGen will screen for novel antibodies using its yeast display system. Adcentrx will be responsible for engineering the antibodies into ADC therapeutic candidates and has worldwide development and commercialization rights. AvantGen will be eligible to receive milestone payments for achievement of certain development milestones.
"We are excited to enter this new partnership with AvantGen to accelerate our ADC development efforts. What attracted us to AvantGen initially is how their yeast display technology and human antibody libraries mimic human diversity to yield high affinity and very specific antibodies. Through our ongoing collaboration, AvantGen has demonstrated its capabilities in rapidly discovering a diverse antibody repertoire with high developability against defined targets. A key objective at Adcentrx, through this collaboration and opportunistic licensing activities, is to identify the best antibodies which we can leverage to assemble a pipeline of next generation ADC therapeutics."
Hui Li, Ph.D., President and CEO of Adcentrx
"We are proud to partner with Adcentrx to help accelerate its ADC pipeline build with our robust human antibody discovery platform," said Xiaomin Fan, Ph.D., President and CEO of AvantGen. "The speed that Adcentrx is able to take lead antibody candidates to development stage with its ADC technology is truly remarkable. We believe that this new partnership will enable Adcentrx to develop the most promising next generation ADC therapeutics with our high-quality antibodies."
About Adcentrx Therapeutics
Adcentrx is a biotechnology company focused on accelerating breakthroughs in protein conjugate therapeutic development for cancer and other life-threatening diseases. By combining the targeting precision of biologics and the disease fighting power of small molecule payloads, Adcentrx strives to develop next generation targeted therapies for improving patient treatment options.
About AvantGen
AvantGen, Inc is a leader in the use of yeast display technology for antibody discovery and optimization. Founded by experts in the creation of antibody discovery and optimization platforms, AvantGen excels in the rapid generation of antibodies for therapeutic, diagnostic and research tool applications. The Company's platforms include a robust yeast display system, large natural human antibody database, fully human antibody libraries comprised of over 100 billion antibody clones displayed by yeast cells, NK cell engager technology, flow cytometry-based and other screening technologies, as well as novel methodologies for rabbit monoclonal antibody and VHH nanobody generation. These versatile platforms can be used to discover antibodies directed at specific disease targets, affinity mature existing antibodies to improve their binding properties and humanize antibodies to render non-human antibodies suitable for human therapeutic applications, as well as generate rabbit monoclonal antibodies for applications that need extremely high specificity, such as antibodies capable of distinguishing point mutations and post-translational modifications for IHC, and anti-idiotype antibodies for PK studies. AvantGen's partners include pharmaceutical, biotech, diagnostic and government entities, many of which are repeat customers.
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CELL AND GENE THERAPY
Tevogen Bio | January 13, 2022
Tevogen Bio, a clinical stage biotechnology company specializing in cell and gene therapies in oncology and viral infections, announced that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has granted a new patent for the method of preparing COVID-19 peptide specific cytotoxic T cells for the treatment of COVID-19 infection. The patent further reinforces the biotech pioneer’s expanding IP portfolio.
“Omicron’s extensive mutations and its subsequent ability to evade antibodies highlights the importance of Killer T cells, which can still recognize and eliminate virus-infected cells. Millions among us suffer from inadequate T cell response for various reasons. After two years of the pandemic and witnessing the challenges posed by the ever-evolving virus, we must explore scientific options beyond our current approaches. CTL therapeutics for large patient populations is not an easy undertaking, but Tevogen’s ability to manufacture hundreds of doses from a single donor gives me hope,”
Tevogen CEO Ryan Saadi, M.D., M.P.H
The granted patent covers Tevogen’s investigational allogeneic SARS-CoV-2 specific Cytotoxic CD8+ T Lymphocytes therapy, TVGN-489, for high-risk COVID-19 patients. The product is currently undergoing a proof of concept clinical trial at Jefferson University Hospitals in Philadelphia. Trial details are available at Clinical Trials - Tevogen.
About TVGN-489
TVGN-489 is a highly purified, SARS-CoV-2-specific cytotoxic CD8+ T lymphocyte product, which detects targets spread across the entire viral genome. These targeted CTLs are expected to recognize and kill off virally infected cells, allowing the body to replace them with healthy, uninfected cells. TVGN-489 demonstrated strong antiviral activity toward SARS-CoV-2 targets in preclinical studies.
About Tevogen Bio
Tevogen Bio is driven by a team of distinguished scientists and highly experienced biopharmaceutical leaders who have successfully developed and commercialized multiple franchises. Tevogen’s leadership believes that accessible personalized immunotherapies are the next frontier of medicine, and that disruptive business models are required to sustain medical innovation in the post-pandemic world.
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PR Newswir | September 04, 2020
Alligator Bioscience (Nasdaq Stockholm: ATORX) announced today biomarker data from a recently performed clinical Phase I study of the drug candidate mitazalimab, its wholly owned CD40 antibody in development primarily for the treatment of pancreatic cancer. The data will be presented today at the scientific conference PEGS: The Essential Protein Engineering Summit being held virtually August 31- September 4, 2020."The presented biomarker data confirm the proof of mechanism and strengthen our belief in mitazalimab as a powerful therapeutic agent. The observed induction of PD-L1-genes supports that mitazalimab has a potential to make tumors more responsive to PD-1 therapy. This is a very important factor and provides an opportunity for a clear path to the market and for adding benefit to patients," commented Per Norlén, CEO at Alligator Bioscience.The study identified a large number of upregulated genes after treatment with mitazalimab, such as PD-L1, which supports a clinical development plan for mitazalimab in combination studies with PD-1 inhibition. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that RNA sequencing can be successfully used to discover pharmacodynamic biomarkers following CD40 activation with mitazalimab.
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