Protein Design Labs Announces Development of SMART(TM) Anti-IL-12 Antibody
FREMONT, Calif., May 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Protein Design Labs, Inc. (Nasdaq: PDLI - news; PDL, the ``Company'') today announced that it has begun preclinical development of its SMART Anti-IL-12 Antibody. SMART Anti-IL-12 Antibody was humanized at PDL from a murine anti-IL-12 antibody that was licensed, together with certain intellectual property related to anti-IL-12 therapy, from Hoffmann-La Roche Inc. Financial terms of the license agreement were not disclosed.
``IL-12 is a cytokine that may have considerable potential as a target in the therapy of autoimmune diseases,'' said Cary Queen, Ph.D., PDL Senior Vice President and Vice President, Research. ``Many autoimmune diseases are thought to be mediated by Th1 cells, a type of T cell that is generated in the presence of IL-12. Antibodies against IL-12 have been highly effective in reducing disease severity in animal models of multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis and inflammatory bowel disease.''
``The humanized anti-IL-12 antibody is an important addition to PDL's already strong pipeline of humanized antibodies being developed for the treatment of autoimmune diseases,'' said Daniel Levitt, M.D., Ph.D., PDL President, Research and Development. ``Autoimmune diseases involve complex immunological pathways, and we believe that development of several antibodies which are directed at different targets in these pathways is the approach most likely to result in successful therapies.''... |
