Human Genome Sciences, 4-Antibody sign collaboration agreement

4-Antibody AG today announced the signing of a collaboration agreement with Human Genome Sciences (HGS) to discover and develop fully human therapeutic antibodies.

The collaboration with HGS is focused on 4-Antibody's proprietary high throughput in vitro Retrocyte Display® technology for rapid discovery of fully human antibodies against novel targets nominated by HGS. The Retrocyte Display® technology (Retroviral B lymphocyte Display) is a potent and fast tool for high quality therapeutic antibody discovery and optimization using a rapid flow cytometry approach. Full-length immunoglobulin antibody libraries are expressed in mammalian B-lineage cells, the cell designed by nature for optimal antibody display, resulting in 'better-behaved', fully human antibodies. This collaboration agreement, which initially involves two projects, is 4-Antibody's second such alliance with a pharmaceutical partner, the first being with Boehringer Ingelheim which commenced in early 2010.

Dr Robert Burns, 4-Antibody's CEO, said: "We're delighted to announce our second collaboration with an established pharmaceutical partner. Collaborations serve an important role in validating our Retrocyte Display® technology platform and we're delighted that HGS wanted to enter into this multi-target collaboration with us. This adds an additional momentum to our other ongoing partnering activities."