BioWa, arGEN-X sign license agreement for POTELLIGENT Technology

arGEN-X, a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of human monoclonal antibodies from its proprietary SIMPLE Antibody™ platform, announces it has signed a non-exclusive license agreement with BioWa Inc., the exclusive worldwide licensor of POTELLIGENT® Technology.

arGEN-X's SIMPLE Antibody™ platform is unique in providing human variable regions of unprecedented diversity, allowing the rapid selection of antibodies with superb functional potency. In under two years, these attributes have already been validated preclinically in seven in vivo and ex vivo models, highlighting the productivity of the technology.

POTELLIGENT® Technology is a clinically validated approach to producing monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) with significantly enhanced antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) and tumor cell killing activity. By combining the power of the SIMPLE Antibody™ platform with POTELLIGENT® Technology, arGEN-X expects to increase the intrinsic potency of these mAbs even further. Under this license agreement, arGEN-X will apply POTELLIGENT® Technology to its own novel mAbs addressing cancer and inflammatory disorders and will offer antibodies encompassing both technologies to its commercial partners.

Commenting on today's announcement, Tim Van Hauwermeiren, CEO of arGEN-X, said: "We are applying our proprietary SIMPLE Antibody™ technology to targets where a selectively potent antibody interaction works in concert with effector function to mediate optimal therapeutic effects. The extraordinary diversity of antibodies generated from our platform allows us to preferentially select leads with only the highest quality functional properties. Combining such superior variable regions with constant regions enhanced by the validated POTELLIGENT® Technology supports our strategy of creating highly differentiated, competitive antibody products."  

Dr. Yasunori Yamaguchi, President and CEO of BioWa, commented further: "We are pleased to have this arrangement with an innovative company such as arGEN-X.  The SIMPLE Antibody™ platform and POTELLIGENT® Technology are very complementary and promise to enable important increases in therapeutic antibody potency."