Abzena PLC Antibody manufacturing development agreement
February 21 2017 - 1:01AM
RNS Non-Regulatory
TIDMABZA
Abzena PLC
21 February 2017
Abzena plc
Antibody manufacturing development agreement signed with UCL
Cambridge, UK, 21 February 2017 - Abzena plc (AIM: ABZA,
'Abzena' or the 'Group'), a life sciences group providing services
and technologies to enable the development and manufacture of
biopharmaceutical products, has signed a manufacturing agreement
with University College London ('UCL'), one of the world's leading
universities. Under the agreement, Abzena will manufacture
Magacizumab, an antibody created using the 'Abzena inside'
Composite Human Antibody(TM) technology.
Under earlier agreements with UCL, Abzena conducted the antibody
humanization and developed the manufacturing cell line for
Magacizumab. In this latest service agreement Abzena will
manufacture Magacizumab at its biomanufacturing facility in San
Diego, CA, USA. This programme is the first to proceed with Abzena
through each of the phases of humanization, cell line development
and into manufacture, thus illustrating Abzena's expanded
capabilities in the discovery, development and manufacture of
biopharmaceutical products for its partners across its UK and US
operations.
Magacizumab is an 'Abzena inside' product that is being
developed by the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology for the treatment
of neovascular (or 'wet') age-related macular degeneration (AMD).
This is a condition affecting older people that can lead to loss of
vision due to abnormal blood vessel growth. The antibody targets
LRG1 (leucine-rich alpha-2-glycoprotein 1) which researchers at UCL
identified as having a role in promoting the growth of pathological
blood vessels. The project is funded by the Medical Research
Council's Developmental Pathway Funding Scheme. UCL Business, the
technology commercialisation company of UCL, currently owns the
patents for Magacizumab. Under the previous antibody humanization
agreement with UCL, a milestone payment will become due to Abzena
during clinical development of Magacizumab.
Dr John Burt, Abzena's CEO, commented:
"Being able to support the progression of Magacizumab towards
the clinic is an important opportunity. This is the second 'Abzena
inside' product that will utilise our San Diego biomanufacturing
facility, demonstrating how our expanded contract manufacturing
capabilities enable Abzena to earn additional service revenue from
products created with our technologies."
Professors Stephen Moss and John Greenwood at the UCL Institute
of Ophthalmology, whose team identified LRG1 as a target for
Magacizumab therapy, commented:
"It is very gratifying to be embarking on this next stage of
Magacizumab's development and to be continuing our work with Abzena
to drive forward this exciting novel approach for the treatment of
neovascular AMD."
Enquiries:
Abzena plc
John Burt, Chief Executive
Officer Julian Smith, Chief
Financial Officer +44 1223 903498
Instinctif Partners +44 20 7457
Melanie Toyne Sewell / Rozi 2020
Morris abzena@instinctif.com
About Abzena
Abzena (AIM: ABZA) provides proprietary technologies and
complementary services to enable the development and manufacture of
biopharmaceutical products, a growing area that requires specialist
knowledge and expertise. The Group has a global customer base which
includes the majority of the top 20 biopharmaceutical companies as
well as large and small biotech companies and academic groups.
The term "Abzena inside" is used by Abzena to describe products
that have been created using its proprietary technologies and are
being developed by its partners, and include Composite Human
Antibodies(TM) and ThioBridge(TM) Antibody Drug Conjugates (ADCs).
Abzena has the potential to earn future licence fees, milestone
payments and/or royalties on "Abzena inside" products.
Abzena offers the following services and technologies across its
principal sites in Cambridge (UK), San Diego, California (USA) and
Bristol, Pennsylvania (USA).
-- Immunogenicity assessment, protein engineering to create
humanized antibodies and deimmunised therapeutic proteins, and cell
line development for manufacture.
-- Contract process development and manufacture of
biopharmaceuticals, including monoclonal antibodies, recombinant
proteins, vaccines, and gene therapy and cell therapy products, for
preclinical and clinical studies.
-- Proprietary site-specific conjugation technologies for
antibody drug conjugate development and solutions for optimizing
the therapeutic properties of biopharmaceuticals.
-- Contract chemistry and bioconjugation business focused on
ADCs and is establishing the capability to manufacture ADCs to GMP
standards.
For more information, please see www.abzena.com
About UCL (University College London)
UCL was founded in 1826. We were the first English university
established after Oxford and Cambridge, the first to open up
university education to those previously excluded from it, and the
first to provide systematic teaching of law, architecture and
medicine. We are among the world's top universities, as reflected
by performance in a range of international rankings and tables. UCL
currently has over 38,000 students from 150 countries and over
12,000 staff. Our annual income is more than GBP1 billion.
www.ucl.ac.uk
About UCL Business PLC
UCL Business PLC (UCLB) is a leading technology
commericalisation company that supports the research and
innovations arising from UCL, one of the UK's top research-led
universities. UCLB has a successful track record and a strong
reputation for identifying and protecting promising new
technologies and innovations from UCL academics. UCLB has a strong
track record in commercialising medical technologies and provides
technology transfer services to UCL's associated hospitals;
University College London Hospitals, Moorfields Eye Hospital, Great
Ormond Street Hospital for Children and the Royal Free London
Hospital. It invests directly in development projects to maximise
the potential of the research and manages the commercialisation
process of technologies from laboratory to market. For further
information, please visit: www.uclb.com
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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