TIDMABZA
RNS Number : 6525K
Abzena PLC
11 July 2017
Abzena and OBI Pharma sign ThioBridge(TM) licence agreement
- Master Services and Clinical Supply agreement to enable
process development and manufacturing by Abzena
Cambridge, UK, Taipei, Taiwan 11 July 2017 - Abzena plc (AIM:
ABZA, 'Abzena' or the 'Group'), the life sciences group providing
services and technologies to enable the development and manufacture
of biopharmaceutical products, has signed a licensing agreement and
a master services and clinical supply agreement with OBI Pharma, a
Taiwanese biopharmaceutical company ('OBI', TPEx: 4174).
The licensing agreement is for Abzena's novel site-specific
ThioBridge(TM) antibody drug conjugate (ADC) linker technology to
develop OBI's proprietary ADC, OBI-999 and a series of further ADCs
as potential treatments for cancer.
ThioBridge(TM) links antibodies and other proteins to drugs. The
technology platform is unique in its ability to maintain the
stability of the antibody and a consistent Drug-to-Antibody Ratio
(DAR), which provides a more uniform product.
OBI-999 specifically targets cancer cells overexpressing the
cancer antigen Globo H. The Globo series comprises a group of
cancer-associated carbohydrate antigens including Globo H, SSEA3
and SSEA4 that are over-expressed in more than 14 types of cancers,
including breast, lung, gastric and colorectal. By releasing the
cytotoxic payload to the targeted cancer cells, the aim is to
trigger cancer apoptosis while minimising the drug's toxicities to
normal cells.
OBI has observed encouraging results for OBI-999 in preclinical
studies and plans to accelerate the development of OBI-999 and
other Globo series ADCs. Phase I IND preparations are underway
including Chemistry Manufacturing Control (CMC) planning and
toxicology study design.
Concurrent with the signing of the licence agreement, Abzena and
OBI have entered into a Master Services and Clinical Supply
Agreement for Abzena to provide OBI with further manufacturing
process development and GMP manufacture of OBI-999 and further
ADCs.
Under the terms of this agreement, OBI will receive a worldwide
exclusive licence to use the ThioBridge technology to research,
develop and commercialize ADCs targeting the Globo series. Abzena
will receive a small initial up-front payment from OBI and has the
potential, subject to successful development, to receive up to
GBP128 million, in aggregate, which may become payable upon
achievement of certain development, regulatory and
commercialisation milestones. In addition, Abzena will also receive
royalties on sales of any approved ADC products that incorporate
the ThioBridge(TM) technology.
Amy Huang, General Manager of OBI Pharma, Inc., said:
"OBI is pleased to collaborate with Abzena for our OBI-999 and
other potential pipeline candidates using Abzena's innovative
ThioBridge technology. The collaboration enhances our ADC
development programme and we hope to develop effective cancer
treatments for patients with cancers that express Globo series
antigens."
Dr John Burt, CEO of Abzena, commented:
"This latest licence deal follows on from a successful
evaluation programme of the ThioBridge(TM) technology for OBI by
Abzena.
"The overall ADC development programme for OBI draws on Abzena's
chemistry research and manufacturing capabilities across the
Cambridge (UK) and Bristol (Pennsylvania) facilities, and reaffirms
the value of Abzena's integrated offering.
"The expansion of our offering to include GMP manufacturing for
ADCs has been enabled by our recent fundraising and this deal is a
good example of our ability to continue to support our partners
with our broader chemistry research services, process development
and manufacturing capabilities."
-Ends-
Enquiries:
Abzena plc
John Burt, Chief Executive Officer Julian
Smith, Chief Financial Officer +44 1223 903498
Numis (Abzena's Nominated Adviser and
Broker)
Clare Terlouw / James Black / Paul Gillam +44 20 7260 1000
N+1 Singer (Abzena's Joint Broker)
Aubrey Powell / Liz Yong +44 20 7496 3000
Instinctif Partners (Abzena's PR advisors) +44 20 7457 2020
Melanie Toyne Sewell / Alex Shaw abzena@instinctif.com
OBI Pharma
Gus Adapon, Director, Investor Relations +886 (2) 2786-6589
info@obipharma.com
Notes to Editors
About Abzena
Abzena (AIM: ABZA) provides proprietary technologies and
complementary services to enable the development and manufacture of
biopharmaceutical products.
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):
-- Immunology research studies, including immunogenicity
assessment of candidate biopharmaceutical products;
-- Protein engineering to create humanized antibodies and deimmunised therapeutic proteins;
-- Cell line development for the manufacture of recombinant proteins and antibodies;
-- Contract process development and GMP manufacture of
biopharmaceuticals, including monoclonal antibodies and recombinant
proteins for preclinical and clinical studies;
-- Contract synthetic chemistry and bioconjugation research
services, focused on antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs);
-- Proprietary site-specific conjugation technologies and novel payloads for ADC development; and
-- GMP manufacturer of ADC linkers, payloads & combined linker-payloads.
For more information, please see www.abzena.com
About OBI Pharma
OBI Pharma, Inc. is a Taiwan biopharmaceutical company that was
established in 2002. Its mission is to develop
and license novel therapeutic agents for unmet medical needs,
including cancer targets such as the Globo series antigens, AKR1C3
and other promising targets. The company's flagship product is
Adagloxad Simolenin (formerly OBI-822), a first-in-class active
immunotherapy for metastatic breast cancer. OBI is also developing
next generation immunotherapies for difficult to treat cancers,
including lung, colorectal, pancreatic, gastric, and ovarian
cancer. Additional information can be found at
www.obipharma.com/en.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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