North Brunswick, NJ and London, UK – 23 October 2012. Biotecnol, Inc. and PolyTherics Ltd. have entered into a collaboration for the development of multi-specific Tribody Drug Conjugates (TDCs). The companies will combine Biotecnol’s Tribody technology with PolyTherics’ proprietary site-specific linker technologies to attach cytotoxic payloads to various Tribodies for targeted cancer therapy.
Tribody molecules are multi-specific antibody products that, from a single molecule, enable the targeting of two or three tumour antigens in the same disease or two or three epitopes on the same tumour target. In vitro and in vivo studies conducted by Biotecnol have demonstrated Tribodies to have strong targeting abilities and high tumour-to-blood ratios, which make them highly suitable for delivering toxic payloads in certain key disease settings. Biotecnol has a large repertoire of multivalent antibodies, and well-established capabilities in antibody development and antibody engineering, which will be directed towards this collaboration.
PolyTherics’ novel ThioBridge™ linker technology is a superior conjugation technology for creating more stable, less heterogeneous antibody drug conjugates (ADCs) through site-specific linkage and rebridging of disulphide bonds. It has been developed to support the conjugation of a range of therapeutic payloads to antibodies, antibody fragments or scaffolds via specific sites without impacting functional domains. PolyTherics’ ThioBridge™ technology also enables the development of conjugates with improved solubility and a reduced risk of aggregation.
The companies will test the potency of the ThioBridge™ Tribody-drug conjugates in preclinical cancer models. Biotecnol and PolyTherics will jointly seek partners to develop the most promising product candidates that arise from the collaboration.
Pedro de Noronha Pissarra, CEO of Biotecnol, said: “Over the last year we have made some key and important progress on the development of our Tribody™ platform, mainly at the level of its physicochemical properties, stability, reproducibility and scalability. When we searched for a partner in the ground-breaking field of cytotoxic payload delivery, we found that the properties of PolyTherics’ technology and the respective company’s expertise were key factors for achieving a successful collaboration in this growing field. Together, both companies are able to put together a wealth of expertise and create a highly competitive value-proposition, in order to succeed in such a demanding and competitive market.”
John Burt, CEO of PolyTherics, added: “A key challenge facing developers of protein-drug conjugates is that the chemistry linking the targeting molecule to the toxic payload can lead to unstable, heterogeneous products. PolyTherics’ technology is site-specific, predictable and results in stable and homogeneous conjugates. Combining these attributes with the versatility of Biotecnol’s Tribody platform has the potential to create the next-generation of targeted cancer therapies and we look forward to working together with Biotecnol on this opportunity.”
About Biotecnol, Inc.
Biotecnol, Inc. is a biotechnology company located in North Brunswick, NJ, USA developing the next generation of antibody-based therapeutics for the treatment of diseases in a vast number of therapeutic areas and indications based on its proprietary Tribody™ technology. Biotecnol has fully integrated capabilities that allow the company to run and effectively manage its own drug development programmes, right from the antibody selection process to clinic proof of concept.
Tribody™ Platform
Tribodies are multifunctional recombinant antibodies which utilize the natural in vivo heterodimerization of Fd fragments and light chains of the Fab fragment to form a scaffold upon which additional functions can be incorporated, such as, additional binders, cytokines, chemokines, growth factors, enzymes or protein toxins covered under the Tribody™ patents. Due to its versatility, the platform allows for the engineering of multi-specificity targeting, whereby an antibody can be engineered to target either two or three different epitopes on the same target or two or two different targets in the same disease setting, whilst still being able to engage and redirect powerful effector functions such as T or NK-Cells.
About PolyTherics
PolyTherics provides technology solutions to enable the development of better biopharmaceuticals.
PolyTherics’ suite of proprietary technologies enables the development of novel antibody drug conjugates (ADC) and biopharmaceuticals with extended duration of action or other desirable clinical characteristics. ThioBridge™ is a superior conjugation technology for creating more stable, less heterogeneous ADCs through site-specific linkage and rebridging of disulphide bonds. TheraPEG™, CyPEG™ and HiPEG™ are PolyTherics’ conjugation technologies for optimising the pharmacokinetics of biological products, including therapeutic proteins and antibody fragments. These conjugation technologies attach polymers, typically polyethylene glycol (PEG), to specific sites on proteins and peptides and may also be used to create homodimer and bispecific products. PolyPEG™ is a patented comb polymer that enables generation of lower viscosity conjugates of therapeutic proteins with extended in vivo half-life. GlycoPol™ is a patented polymer that enables specific tissue-targeting of biopharmaceuticals.
PolyTherics is a privately owned UK company and is backed by institutional investors, including Imperial Innovations (LON:IVO), Proven Health VCT plc, The Capital Fund, Oxford Technology 3 VCT plc and Oxford Technology 4 VCT plc, Advantage Enterprise and Innovation Fund, Mercia Funds 1 & 2, and high net worth individuals with funds managed by Longbow Capital LLP. The Company has dedicated facilities in London and Coventry, UK.
For more information:
Biotecnol
Pedro de Noronha Pissarra, CEO
Tel: +1 (973) 922-0972
Email: pnp@biotecnol.com
PolyTherics
John Burt, CEO
Tel.: +44 (0)20 7691 3580
Email: john.burt@polytherics.com
Mark Swallow, Sita Shah, Chris Gardner
Citigate Dewe Rogerson
Tel: +44 (0)20 7282 2948/1052/2995
mark.swallow@citigatedr.co.uk