FairJourney Bio (“FJBio”), a global antibody discovery expert, has entered a partnership with AbTherx, Inc. to bring transgenic mouse-based antibody discovery in-house. The agreement gives the Company access to AbTherx’s Atlas™ Full Human Diversity (FHD) and Common Light Chain (cLC) mouse technologies, completing a discovery route that partners can now run end to end entirely within FJBio’s integrated workflow.
From the partnership, a program can now move from immunization through single B-cell screening and optimization, and on to candidate stability assessment and cell-line development as a single piece of work, run by one team across FJBio’s global sites in Porto (Portugal), Cambridge (UK), and San Diego (USA). The aim is to enable fewer transitions between providers, shorter timelines, and leads that are built to be developed rather than only to bind.
The Atlas™ Mice come from the team behind the HuMAb Mouse®, whose technology has given rise to thirteen marketed antibody therapeutics. At FJBio, the Atlas Mice feed into the B-Cell Navigator platform, the Company’s single B-cell screening and developability engine, so that developability is designed into a molecule from the first sequence rather than corrected later.
AbTherx’s patent-pending FHD mice were engineered to deliver fully human antibodies with a broad, human-like antibody response by sourcing VH and VK alleles that represent > 99% of the expressed human repertoire, and the cLC mice empower the creation of native-structure bi- and multi-specific IgGs that facilitate manufacturability and developability. The Atlas Mice have been validated through multiple independent, head-to-head studies, consistently outperforming legacy platforms. This technical superiority is observed through broader V gene usage, superior hit rates, enhanced antibody diversity and binding profiles, increased epitope coverage and improved hybridoma and B-cell stability.
Within FJBio’s workflow, this range of antibody diversity is carried through single B-cell screening and developability assessment, so that breadth at the source becomes developable, manufacturable leads rather than hits that still need fixing.
We are investing so a partner’s program can run from immunization to a developability-assessed lead inside FJBio, without changing hands. Following a molecule under 'one roof' and with one team of scientists increases probabilities of success significantly.”
Dr. Werner Lanthaler, Chief Executive Officer, FairJourney Bio
“The AbTherx team has spent decades building, refining, and implementing the premier technologies for human antibody discovery – but even the most sophisticated platform requires knowledge and diligence to reach its full potential,” said Dan Rohrer, Chief Technology Officer, AbTherx. “Uniting our proprietary Full Human Diversity and Common Light Chain technologies with FairJourney Bio’s exceptional, quality-driven scientific team creates a powerful synergy. Together, we are perfectly positioned to translate top-tier science into high-performing therapeutic candidates.”