Affitech Announces Achievement of Significant Milestone in Antibody Discovery Collaboration
PGN635 was isolated using Affitech's unique methods for selection and improvement of fully human antibodies from large libraries. In vitro studies demonstrate that by blocking the anti-inflammatory signals of the phosphatidylserine found on the surface of targeted cells, PGN635 could create a unique tumor microenvironment through enhanced production of the pro-inflammatory cytokines TNF-alpha and GM-CSF, while decreasing production of anti-inflammatory cytokines such as interleukin 10. The studies also show that PGN635 promotes the migration of tumor-killing macrophages and induces antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity. In addition to the in vitro studies, in vivo studies showed that, the antibody localizes to tumor blood vessels, but not to blood vessels of healthy tissue. Peregrine will continue to assess the potential of this antibody for the treatment of solid tumors and other diseases.
"These excellent results mark another milestone in our collaboration with Peregrine and our ability to discover fully human antibodies with excellent properties. They follow our recent announcement on R84, a fully human anti-VEGF antibody that we have also identified for Peregrine which has performed well in preclinical studies compared to Avastin(R)," comments Martin Welschof, CEO of Affitech. "We are building a strong track record of generating antibodies with superior properties and functionality for our collaboration programs. In addition, we are building up our own oncology pipeline with the help of our innovative CBAS(TM) (Cell Based Antibody Selection) discovery system. "
Commenting on the milestone achievement Steven King, President and CEO of Peregrine Pharmaceuticals said, "We have been very pleased with the teamwork and productivity of our collaboration with Affitech. Through this collaboration we have been able to generate human antibodies against several targets that we believe may have significant future potential. We look forward to continuing our fruitful collaboration with Affitech."
Editors notes
Affitech AS is a privately held human therapeutic antibody discovery and development company with headquarters and R&D facilities in Oslo, Norway and its US subsidiary in the San Francisco Bay Area. The Company's current disease focus is oncology and it utilizes two discrete but unique approaches for the discovery of fully human antibodies - (i) Molecule Based Antibody Discovery, and (ii) Cell Based Antibody Discovery. Molecule Based Antibody Discovery involves proprietary PhagemidScreeN and AffiScreeN(TM) technologies and uses validated targets for discovery purpose. Cell Based Antibody Discovery is based on CBAS(TM) technology, which is a "reverse-screening" approach for discovering antibodies and their cognate targets utilizing disease-specific cells. Several of the Company's proprietary product candidates currently in development were generated by CBAS(TM). Affitech also sells its proprietary Protein L product line for the purification of antibody and antibody fragments. Affitech offers collaborators a flexible business model and very competitive price structure with low royalty stacking. The Company has concluded deals with commercial organizations such as Roche, Peregrine, XOMA, NatImmune, Viventia, Dyax, Micromet, Pharmexa and others. Further information at www.affitech.com.
Contact
Affitech (Norway):
Dr. Martin Welschof, +47 22 95 87 58
Chief Executive Officer
m.welschof@affitech.com
or
Affitech (USA):
Dr. Rathin C. Das, +1 925 935 9803
President
r.das@affitech.com
or
Media Enquiries:
Hayhurst Media
Richard Hayhurst, +44 7711 821527
richard@hayhurstmedia.com
