Affitech and Viventia team up to find new cancer targets and killer antibodies
Viventia Biotech Inc. based in Toronto is joining forces with Oslo-based Affitech in a research effort to identify new antigen markers displayed by cancer cells and to then target them with specially selected antibodies. Their aim will be a lot more precise thanks to a delivery system developed by Viventia known as Armed Antibodies™.
To help in the search, Affitech has a massive database of top quality human antobodies plus a proprietary screening tehnology backed up by the unique AffiScreen™ platform to look for tell-tale markers on the cell surface of cancer cells. These will become the means for targeting the cancer cells with specific killer antibodies, while hopefully avoiding the type of collateral damage encountered with some types of cancer therapies currently in use.
Affitech’s CEO, Dr. Ole Jorgen Marvik, CEO of Affitech, is confident that by combining their efforts, the two companies will have "a distinct competitive advantage" by speeding up their clinical development. Marvik acknowledges that "Viventia has established itself as a leading developer of targeted cancer therapeutics using their Armed Antibodies™ delivery system."
According to the terms of the collaborative research effort, Affitech will use its patented technologies and AffiScreen™ platform to simultaneously discover cell surface targets and their respective antibodies. Viventia will then take over with its state-of-the-art target identification platforms, dubbed ImmunoMine™ screening and UnLock™, for target identification to further characterize and validate the new antigens and antibodies that will go into the next stage of the development pipeline.
The collaboration involves technology access fees and milestone payments to Affitech at various stages of the discovery process. Newly discovered antigens and antibodies will be jointly owned by Viventia and Affitech.
Noting that Affitech’s approach is a good fit with his company, Dr. Anthony Schincariol, President and CEO of Viventia Biotech Inc. considers that Affitech is "at the leading edge of antibody library technology," and anticipates that the "collaborative efforts of both companies will yield high-value, novel therapeutic candidates in an accelerated timeframe." He is backed up by Dr. Nick Glover Vice President Corporate Development of Viventia "confident that this collaboration will add to Viventia’s ever-growing portfolio of antibody candidates that show promise as potential cancer-targeting Armed Antibodies™"
More about Viventia’s Armed Antibodies™
Viventia’s Armed Antibodies™ platform provides a rational way to study the targeting properties of antibodies as payload carriers to deliver potent cytotoxic (cancer killing) agents directly to cancer cells. The platform uses state-of-the-art antibody engineering to generate custom-tailored molecules with superior anti-cancer drug properties. Armed Antibodies™ has the potential to develop safer, more potent treatments that eradicate tumors while sparing the patient. Viventia’s first Armed Antibodies™ candidate, VB4-845 entered clinical trials in early 2003.
Keywords : Viventia Biotech Inc. Toronto, Ontario, Canada Affitech Oslo Norway Collaboration Discovery Cancer cell surface antigens Therapeutic antibodies Target Armed Antibodies™ AffiScreen™ platform Cytotoxic drug antibody combination development
