Mercia EIS Funds

Antitope Announces Research Agreement with ChemomAb for Generation of Composite Human Antibodies against Inflammatory Diseases

Cambridge UK, 30 July 2013 – Antitope Ltd (“Antitope”), a PolyTherics company, today announced a research agreement with ChemomAb Ltd of Tel Aviv, Israel (“ChemomAb”) for the generation of therapeutic antibodies for development as potential new treatments for inflammatory diseases. Under this agreement, Antitope will apply its Composite Human AntibodyTM technology to generate fully humanised antibodies devoid of T cell epitopes with a consequent very low risk of clinical immunogenicity.

“We are delighted to be working with such an innovative organisation as ChemomAb to generate novel therapeutic antibodies suitable for repeat dose treatments of chronic inflammatory diseases,” said Dr Matthew Baker, Chief Scientific Officer and co-founder of Antitope, adding, “This agreement combines ChemomAb’s proprietary therapeutic targets and candidate non-human antibodies with Antitope’s antibody humanisation and immunogenicity technologies to create powerful new treatments for inflammatory diseases.”

“ChemomAb is extremely pleased to have picked Antitope after a careful and diligent search for the purpose of humanising its first proprietary monoclonal antibody CM-101. This antibody has been developed to treat a series of immune-mediated disorders in humans. We were impressed with the capabilities of Antitope and believe that this collaboration will bring a very promising therapeutic antibody for patients with autoimmune diseases,” says Dr Adi Mor, founder and CEO of ChemomAb Ltd.

About Antitope

Antitope Ltd is a wholly owned subsidiary of the PolyTherics group specialising in immunogenicity testing and the engineering of therapeutic antibodies/proteins for reduced immunogenicity. Antitope’s proprietary EpiScreenTM technology enables preclinical analysis of the immunogenicity of therapeutic antibodies and proteins. The proprietary Composite Human AntibodyTM and Composite ProteinTM technologies result in the generation of therapeutic fully humanised antibodies and proteins devoid of CD4+ T cell epitopes. To enable the transition from research stage to manufacture, Antitope has also developed Composite CHOTM technology resulting in the generation of high yielding manufacturing CHO cell lines suitable for direct transfer to GMP manufacture. Antitope has established multiple commercial relationships with leading biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies worldwide and has, since its inception, successfully completed over 100 projects for its partners.

About ChemomAb

ChemomAb is a privately held Israeli biotech company based in Tel Aviv that specializes in development of proprietary monoclonal antibodies for the treatment of immune mediated disorders and orphan indications. The leading compound, CM-101, was selected after meticulous testing in a series of preclinical animal models simulating human disorders and has shown promising safety and efficacy as well as a novel mechanism of action. A pipeline of proprietary monoclonal antibodies is currently tested in experimental models of orphan diseases.

About PolyTherics

PolyTherics provides technology solutions to enable the development of better biopharmaceuticals and offers a portfolio of proprietary and complementary technologies and services to address key needs in biopharmaceutical development.

PolyTherics’ portfolio includes proprietary site-specific conjugation technologies and novel polymers for optimising the therapeutic properties of biopharmaceuticals, including ThioBridgeTM for more stable and homogeneous antibody drug conjugates, TheraPEGTM, CyPEGTM, HiPEGTM and PolyPEGTM for optimisation of the pharmacokinetics of biologics and GlycoPolTM for targeted delivery.

The PolyTherics group will provide immunogenicity testing, antibody humanisation and protein re-engineering technologies through its Antitope subsidiary, including EpiScreenTM, Composite Human AntibodyTM, Composite ProteinTM and Composite CHOTM. These technologies have been used to develop several therapeutic antibody candidates that are advancing through clinical trials. The group provides its services and technologies to an international client base that includes many of the world’s leading biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies.

PolyTherics is a privately owned UK company backed by institutional investors including Imperial Innovations (AIM: IVO), Invesco Perpetual, Mercia Fund Management, Advantage Enterprise & Innovation Fund (managed by Catapult Venture Partners), ProVen Health, Oxford Technology VCTs and high net worth individual’s funds managed by Longbow Capital. The Company has dedicated facilities in London, Cambridge and Coventry, UK.
www.polytherics.com www.antitope.co.uk
For more information, contact:
Matthew Baker or Neil Butt; Antitope; Tel: +44 (0)1223 496190; Email: info@antitope.co.uk
John Burt; PolyTherics; 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; Email: mark.swallow@citigatedr.co.uk About PolyTherics