AnaptysBio, Inc., a privately-held therapeutic antibody company, today announced the initiation of new strategic alliances with two partners: Novartis and an undisclosed second pharmaceutical company. The strategic alliance announced today with Novartis is AnaptysBio's second collaboration with the Swiss-based pharmaceutical company and follows an initial partnership where AnaptysBio successfully delivered antibody candidates for Novartis' development pipeline.
Under the terms of each alliance, AnaptysBio will utilize its proprietary SHM-XEL platform for the discovery and maturation of novel therapeutic antibodies to multiple oncology-related therapeutic targets. Each pharmaceutical partner will receive worldwide rights to develop and commercialize a limited number of antibodies against each therapeutic target generated by AnaptysBio. In addition to an upfront payment and resource-based compensation, AnaptysBio is eligible to receive milestone payments and royalties associated with the development and sale of any products derived from these alliances.
AnaptysBio's proprietary SHM-XEL platform, which couples fully human antibody libraries with in vitro somatic hypermutation (SHM) in mammalian cells to generate high affinity lead candidates, replicates key features of the human immune system and overcomes limitations of prior antibody technologies. By harnessing the natural mechanism of antibody maturation under controlled conditions, SHM-XEL allows for the selection of optimal antibody properties such as high affinity, functionality, cross-reactivity and epitope diversity. The use of mammalian cell display permits AnaptysBio to optimize manufacturing-related parameters by selecting for high-level expression and stability in parallel. Simultaneous secretion of antibody variants by the mammalian cells utilized during SHM-XEL also permits incorporation of functional assays in the antibody discovery process. Key hallmarks of the SHM-XEL platform were recently published by AnaptysBio in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS (2011), 108, 20455-20460).
"Our technology platform provides an integrated approach to antibody discovery using the natural biochemistry of somatic hypermutation in the context of mammalian cells," said Hamza Suria, president and chief executive officer for AnaptysBio. "We will continue to generate differentiated therapeutic candidates for our internal pipeline and under strategic alliances with select pharmaceutical partners."
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