Date: 2014-04-15
Type of information: Establishment of a new subsidiary in the EU
Compound: midkine (MK) Tribodies™
Company: Cellmid (Australia) Biotecnol (UK)
Therapeutic area: Cancer - Oncology
Type agreement:
Action mechanism: The Tribody technology enables the generation of multi-specific antibody products. Tribody molecules are generated via the natural in vivo heterodimerization of Fab fragments to form a scaffold, upon which additional functions can be incorporated such as additional binders, or cytokines, chemokines, growth factors, enzymes or protein toxins. Tribodies have been developed in order to provide a multifunctional recombinant antibody platform which had a longer serum half life than bispecific antibodies, but which had similar tissue penetration. Midkine is a growth factor that is highly expressed during embryonic development. Midkine modulates many important biological interactions such as cell growth, cell migration and cellular adherence. These functions are relevant to cancer, inflammation, autoimmunity, ischemia, nerve growth/repair and wound healing. Midkine is barely detectable in healthy adults and only occurs as part of the pathogenesis of a number of different disorders. Midkine expression is often evident very early in disease onset, even before any apparent physical symptoms. Accordingly, midkine is an important early marker for diagnosing cancers and autoimmune diseases. Finally, midkine is only present in a disease context, and targeting midkine is not expected to harm normal healthy tissues.
Disease:
Details: * On April 15, 2014, Cellmid has signed a collaboration agreement with UK based Biotecnol Ltd for the development of midkine (MK) Tribodies™ which are antibodies targeting MK in addition to additional oncogenic proteins. Biotecnol is one of the pioneers of multispecific antibody engineering with a validated and proprietary technology platform. Pursuant to the agreement, Biotecnol will be responsible for the development and validation of the novel MK Tribodies™. Cellmid will conduct pre-clinical efficacy studies, while the parties will share further development costs equally. Biotecnol and Cellmid will jointly own the new multispecific drugs. The collaboration agreement is expected to result in one or more novel and proprietary MK Tribodies™. These will target MK in addition to inhibiting other undisclosed oncogenic targets, including immune checkpoints. The collaboration adds an exciting component to Cellmid’s drug pipeline with new intellectual property in immuno-oncology. Using Biotecnol’s proprietary Tribody™ platform to target MK simultaneously with other known oncogenic proteins will afford Cellmid multiple potential opportunities to engineer highly effective, novel, and patent-protected cancer treatments. The clinical relevance of MK in patient stratification has been shown in multiple tumour types already. Patients likely to respond to MK antibody treatment can easily be identified with Cellmid’s MK ELISA. Utilising Biotecnol’s Tribody™ platform targeting MK and at the same time having the ability to target check-point regulators for effective tumour killing in these patients presents a rational approach to deliver personalised medicine.
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