Date: 2016-06-01
Type of information: Licensing agreement
Compound: GlymaxX® Antibody Glyco-Engineering technology
Company: ProBioGen (Germany) Merus (The Netherlands)
Therapeutic area: Technology - Services - Cancer - Oncology
Type agreement: licensing
Action mechanism: The GlymaxX® technology, developed by ProBioGen, prevents the synthesis of the sugar “fucose” and hence, in antibody-producing cells, its addition to the N-linked carbohydrate part of the antibody. The absence of fucose is known to greatly enhance ADCC. The GlymaxX® technology is based on the stable introduction of a gene for an enzyme which eliminates the producer cells’ fucose biosynthesis pathway. GlymaxX® is universally applicable to different Chinese hamster ovary, or CHO, hosts and all other eukaryotic cell species. It can be applied in a few weeks to any existing antibody producer cell line, can be used in the context of ProBioGen’s pre-engineered GlymaxX® host cells, or can be introduced into entire animal cell expression platforms by modifying the host cell line. ProBioGen offers its GlymaxX® technology royalty-free as a service or as an individual license.
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Details: * On June 1, 2016, ProBioGen and Merus jointly announced that Merus has signed a commercial multi-product license agreement for ProBioGen’s GlymaxX® ADCC (Antibody-Dependent Cell-Mediated Cytotoxicity) enhancement technology. Under the terms of the agreement, Merus has obtained non-exclusive use of GlymaxX® technology for Merus’ Biclonics® pipeline of bispecific cancer antibodies to enhance their ADCC activity. Financial details of the license agreement were not disclosed. MCLA-158 is the first GlymaxX®-modified ADCC-enhanced bispecific antibody being developed under this commercial license. MCLA-158 is being developed as a potential treatment for colorectal cancer and other types of solid tumors. The compound is designed to bind to cancer stem cells that express EGFRs (epidermal growth factor receptors) and Lgr5 (leucine-rich repeat-containing G protein-coupled receptor 5). Merus had previously utilized the GlymaxX® Technology for its lead candidate, MCLA-128, which is designed to bind to HER2 and HER3-expressing solid tumors. Merus reported interim clinical data from an ongoing phase 1/2 clinical trial for MCLA-128 in April 2016. These data included a favorable safety profile and early signs of anti-tumor activity in patients with advanced solid tumors.
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