Favrille Acquires Anti-CD20 Monoclonal Antibodies from Diversa
Tuesday June 12, 6:30 am ET
SAN DIEGO, June 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Favrille, Inc. (Nasdaq: FVRL - News), a biopharmaceutical company developing patient-specific, active immunotherapies for the treatment of cancer, announced today that it has acquired a series of optimized anti-CD20 monoclonal antibodies from Diversa Corporation (Nasdaq: DVSA - News). In the acquisition, Favrille has obtained a panel of anti-CD20 antibodies, which have been optimized using Diversa's proprietary Human Framework Reassembly(TM) technology, along with the corresponding patents and an exclusive, royalty-free license to selected pending patents for commercialization of the panel. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
"These second generation antibodies have been shown to have biological properties equal or superior to both the parental mouse antibody as well as to Rituximab when profiled in a panel of cell-based assays," said Daniel Gold, Ph.D., Favrille's Chief Scientific Officer.
"The acquisition of these anti-CD20 antibodies is an extension of our commitment to developing next generation treatment approaches for B-cell non Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL)," said John P. Longenecker, Ph.D., Favrille's President and Chief Executive Officer. "Our lead product, FavId®, is an active immunotherapy being developed as a complement to the anti-CD20 passive immunotherapy Rituxan®. We believe this combination of active and passive immunotherapies may be complementary in maintaining remissions in patients with indolent B-cell NHL. Access to this panel of optimized anti-CD20 antibodies may also allow Favrille to explore the use of these products alone or in combination in therapeutic areas outside the oncology market."
"We believe that Favrille is an ideal choice for developing these antibodies based on their extensive experience and focus on immunotherapies for the treatment of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma," said Edward T. Shonsey, Diversa's Chief Executive Officer... |
