July 19 /PRNewswire/ -- GPC Biotech (Frankfurt Stock Exchange: GPC) and
MorphoSys (Frankfurt Stock Exchange: MOR) today announced the achievement of a
preclinical milestone in GPC Biotech's antibody program for the treatment of
specific blood cancers, the MHC class II positive B-cell lymphomas. GPC
Biotech showed that the human antibody generated and optimized by MorphoSys
from its proprietary HuCAL® library has significant in vivo efficacy in
rodent xenograft-tumor models. The milestone triggers an undisclosed payment
from GPC Biotech to MorphoSys.
The selected fully human HuCAL® antibody showed high affinity to the MHC class II target and was selected for in vivo studies because it efficiently and rapidly killed a series of human blood tumors in in vitro assays, including Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Human Non-Hodgkin lymphoma cells and the selected antibody were injected into immune deficient mice and the antibody was shown to completely inhibit tumor growth in the majority of the cases or significantly delay it.
Sebastian Meier-Ewert, Ph.D., Senior Vice President and Head of Research of GPC Biotech said: ``The data from the in vivo model are very promising, indicating that the antibody may prove to be an effective treatment for cancer patients with weakened immune systems resulting from conventional chemotherapy or other common cancer treatments. The efficacy data suggests that the MHC class II specific antibody kills tumor cells without the need for an immunological effector mechanism. The next step will be further preclinical studies in order to aggressively move this program into clinical development.''
``This antibody is the first ever HuCAL-derived antibody confirming efficacy in animal models, and as such, represents an important achievement for us,'' added Dr. Thomas von Rueden, CSO of MorphoSys. ``Today's announcement represents another significant step towards establishing a broad pipeline of HuCAL-derived antibodies heading into clinical development over the coming years.''
GPC Biotech's antibody program to treat MHC class II positive B-cell lymphomas is based on the finding that these antibodies specifically kill human lymphoma/leukemia cells, leaving normal resting cells unaffected. As proven in tumor models, the induction of cell death, which occurs rapidly upon binding of the antibody, does not require any additional immune system effector mechanisms. This is potentially a major advantage when compared to other antibodies targeting B-cell lymphomas where functioning immune responses are required. The antibody program is one of the most advanced of GPC Biotech's nine drug development programs.
GPC Biotech AG is a genomics- and proteomics-driven drug discovery company focused on applying a number of proprietary genomic, proteomic and drug discovery technologies to accelerate the identification and validation of novel drug targets for development of mechanism-based drugs in oncology, infectious diseases and immunology. GPC Biotech has leading cell cycle expertise and a broad intellectual property position with 59 patents issued, that are wholly owned, co-owned or exclusively/co-exclusively licensed, and over 180 patents pending. Drug discovery alliance partners include: Aventis Pharma (PAVE.PSE), Bayer AG (BAY.FSE), DuPont Pharmaceuticals (DD-B.NYS), Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH, the Altana AG (ALT.FSE) subsidiary Byk Gulden, Cell Genesys, Inc. (CEGE.NAS), Evotec OAI AG (EVT.FSE), MorphoSys AG (MOR.FSE) and Karo Bio USA (KARO.SSE). GPC Biotech AG is headquartered in Martinsried/Munich (Germany) with two wholly owned US subsidiaries in Waltham/Boston, MA and in Princeton, NJ. For further information, please visit the corporate website at: gpc-biotech.com. |
