Vaccinex, Inc Announces Antibody Collaboration With Schering AG
ROCHESTER, N.Y., Feb. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Vaccinex, Inc. announced today that it has entered into a research collaboration with Schering AG to identify disease targets and potentially develop novel therapeutic antibodies for the treatment of certain cancers. Vaccinex will receive a technology access fee and research funding and is eligible for milestone payments and royalties. Following the initial research phase, Vaccinex may receive certain options to co-develop a selected cancer product with Schering AG. Financial details were not disclosed.
Dr. Maurice Zauderer, President and CEO of Vaccinex commented, "We are very excited about applying our proprietary technologies to validate several of Schering AG's oncology targets as well as to have an opportunity to collaborate in co-developing a promising cancer product. We are especially pleased to be working together with an accomplished pharmaceutical partner like Schering on the discovery and development of new and innovative treatments for cancer and other diseases."
About Vaccinex, Inc.
Vaccinex is a privately held biotechnology company engaged in the discovery and development of novel therapeutic antibodies. Using its proprietary vaccinia vector technology, Vaccinex has developed a unique library-based discovery platform capable of identifying novel antigens and of selecting fully human monoclonal antibodies against disease targets. Vaccinex utilizes its ActivMAb technology to directly generate fully functional antibodies against difficult targets such as homologous proteins and multi-pass membrane receptors. Vaccinex's technology can also be used to fully humanize mouse and other non-human antibodies. The firm is headquartered in Rochester, NY and currently has 48 employees. For more information visit vaccinex.com.
Distinguishing characteristics of Vaccinex's antibody discovery technology include the use of a unique vaccinia virus-based vector to express antibodies in mammalian cells and the ability to achieve extremely high levels of combinatorial diversity of immunoglobulin heavy and light chains. The result is an increased likelihood of identifying antibodies with high-affinity, high specificity, and the desired function. Our technology to construct large cDNA libraries using vaccinia vectors is supported by three issued U.S. patents (#6,706,477, #6,800,442, and #6,872,518) and the expertise and know-how developed in over ten years of vaccinia vector research.
Antibody Technology Advantages
• Fully Human Antibodies
Lower chance of immune rejection of therapeutics than may be the case for humanized or murine antibodies
• Broad Target Range
Generate antibodies that would be difficult or impossible to identify with other systems. Examples: Highly conserved proteins and multi-pass membrane receptors
• Conversion of Non-human Antibodies
Researchers have identified numerous non-human antibodies. Unlike other systems, our technology can change those antibodies into 100% human antibodies while retaining desired epitope specificity and function.
• No Complex Re-engineering Required
Engineering can take time and create unplanned difficulties in production. Vaccinex directly expresses and selects complete IgG antibodies during discovery |
