Sangamo BioSciences and Medarex, Inc. Announce Antibody Production Agreement
RICHMOND, Calif., and PRINCETON, N.J., Jan. 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Sangamo BioSciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: SGMO - news) and Medarex, Inc. (Nasdaq: MEDX - news) today announced a collaboration under which the parties expect to use Sangamo's zinc finger DNA binding protein (ZFP) gene regulation technology platform to increase the expression of antibodies in mammalian cell lines. Under the terms of the agreement, Medarex will provide research funding to Sangamo over a two year period, and the parties plan to collaborate to create cell lines with the ability to express antibodies at enhanced levels. Medarex will have a non-exclusive license to use these novel cell lines to manufacture antibody products. Sangamo will be entitled to milestone payments and royalties on any sales of such products. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
``Protein manufacturing is a significant issue for the biopharmaceutical industry,'' said Edward Lanphier, Sangamo's president and chief executive officer. ``Rather than build more and larger production facilities, we believe the potential exists to use ZFP-based gene activation to boost yields in existing systems and facilities.''
``Sangamo's ZFP technology complements our antibody production capabilities. We believe that this collaboration will provide us with the ability to rapidly move more products into production and ultimately toward commercialization,'' said Donald L. Drakeman, Medarex's president and chief executive officer.
This antibody production collaboration is the second agreement between Sangamo and Medarex. In June 2001 the parties announced a collaboration to discover and develop therapeutic antibodies to G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs). The two companies expect to work on fully human antibody products that are jointly developed by the collaboration and expect to share costs and commercialization rights to such products.
Zinc finger DNA-binding proteins (ZFPs) are the dominant class of naturally occurring transcription factors in organisms from yeast to humans. Transcription factors, which are found in the nucleus of every cell, bind to DNA to regulate gene expression. The transcription factors made from ZFPs allow precise targeting to a particular gene or genes of interest. The over-expression or under-expression of individual genes in mammalian host cells could lead to enhanced yields of monoclonal antibodies and other protein pharmaceuticals.
About Sangamo BioSciences, Inc.
Sangamo BioSciences, Inc., of Richmond, CA, is focused on the research and development of novel transcription factors for the regulation of gene expression. The company's most advanced therapeutic development program involves the use of transcription factors for the treatment of cardiovascular disease. Other therapeutics development programs are focused on cancer and infectious diseases. Sangamo's Universal Gene Recognition(TM) technology enables the engineering of transcription factors known as zinc finger DNA-binding proteins, or ZFPs. By engineering ZFPs so that they can recognize a specific gene, Sangamo has created ZFP transcription factors (ZFP TFs) that can control gene expression and, consequently, cell function. The company intends to establish Universal Gene Recognition as a widely used technology for commercial applications in human therapeutics, pharmaceutical discovery, clinical diagnostics, agriculture and industrial biotechnology. Over twenty leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies have utilized ZFP TFs. For more information about Sangamo, visit the company's web site at www.sangamo.com... |
