Merck KGaA Unit Biovation, Roche In Development Pact
Wednesday May 21, 9:24 am ET
Edited Press Release
FRANKFURT -(Dow Jones)- Aberdeen-based Biovation Limited, a Merck KGaA group company, today announced the signing of a research agreement with Basel- based F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG , under which Biovation will apply its proprietary DeImmunisation technology for the generation of novel biopharmaceuticals.
Biovation will receive research revenues and, in the event Roche pursues further development, could earn license fees, milestone payments and royalties on future product sales.
"We are excited to be working with Roche in our mutual quest for improved biopharmaceuticals for chronic diseases," said Dr. Frank Carr, President and Chief Executive Officer of Biovation: "We look forward to applying our DeImmunisation technology to Roche's leads in order to generate molecules whose clinical effectiveness is not compromised by immunogenicity."
DeImmunisation represents an entirely different approach to reducing immunogenicity. The technology addresses a major driver of immunogenicity in therapeutic antibodies and proteins, namely T cell epitopes. The DeImmunisation technology involves the identification and removal of T cell epitopes from the molecule. Since potentially immunogenic regions of the molecule are removed by single amino acid substitutions, immunogenicity can be eliminated while retaining the properties of the starting molecule.
Biovation Limited is an antibody and protein engineering company that partners its proprietary DeImmunisation technology with third parties to create improved biopharmaceuticals without immunogenicity.
All antibodies and proteins, even of human origin, can potentially cause an adverse immune response when administered to patients. DeImmunisation eliminates that risk by identifying and removing potentially immunogenic sequences of the therapeutic molecule, while retaining efficacy. Since 1998, Biovation has established collaborations with numerous companies in the US, Europe, Asia and Australia. Biovation is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Merck KGaA and operates as an independent company within the Merck Group... |
