SAN DIEGO, June 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Xenerex Biosciences, a subsidiary of AVANIR Pharmaceuticals (Amex: AVN - news), announced today that it has licensed the rights to a patent for grafting adult human stem cells into severe combined immunodeficient (SCID) mice. The ability to engraft adult human stem cells, which may respond to unique antigens with unique antibodies, broadens the company's technological resources with yet another important option in generating fully human monoclonal antibodies.
``The addition of this exclusive method extends our technology platform with another methodology for generating fully human antibodies to a wide array of infectious diseases and human proteins,'' said J. David Hansen, president and chief operating officer of Xenerex Biosciences. ``With the addition of this unique approach we hope to generate B-cells and antibodies, that are difficult or even impossible to obtain by other methods. We intend to further develop this technology and are excited by both the synergies and the new opportunities this patent presents in our pursuit of research collaborations to maximize and commercialize our expertise in antibody generation.''
The patent, U.S. 5994617, ``Engraftment of Immune-Deficient Mice With Human Cells'' was originally issued to John Dick, Ph.D. and Suzanne Kamel-Reid, Ph.D. of The Hospital for Sick Children (HSC) in Toronto, Canada. The patent allows for the engraftment of diverse sources of adult human cells, including bone marrow, cord blood and liver cells. These grafts have been found to be capable of differentiating into B-cells, the cells responsible for antibody production.
Xenerex will be responsible for development of the technology under a license agreement with HSC Research and Development Limited Partnership and will pay a royalty to the partnership if products are marketed utilizing this specific technology. Other terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
The existing patented technology of Xenerex is focused on engrafting mature human immune system cells into SCID mice and generating human monoclonal antibodies from immunization of these cells in the mice. The newly licensed technology gives Xenerex the capability to generate a renewable pool of millions of human B-cells from the engrafting of the adult human stem cells into SCID mice. The mice provide an environment for these cells to multiply and differentiate into human B-cells. These B-cells may then be stimulated to produce totally human antibodies for a wide array of antigens using Xenerex's current technology... |
