MicroConstants China Inc., has announced it gained the global rights from the Institute of Biophysics (IBP), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) to develop AA98 antibody drug candidates that can be used in the treatment of several types of cancers and autoimmune diseases,
The company will pay for the development costs of the immunotherapeutic drugs and milestones payments will be made to IBP according to the successful development and worldwide sales of all AA98 antibody derived diagnostics and drugs.
The class of AA98 antibodies was first discovered by Prof. Yan, Xiyun and his colleagues. AA98 is anti-CD146 monoclonal antibody, blocking ligation with its co-receptor VEGF, and allowing the inhibition of tumor angiogenesis. Importantly, AA98 can be used in the treatment of different types of cancer, in particular triple-negative breast cancer. Prof. Xiyun’s team has published their results concerning CD146 and AA98 findings in diverse peer-reviewed journals, including “Nature Communications“, “Blood” and “PNAS“. Furthermore, she has been awarded the Scientific Achievement Award (First Place) by the Beijing City government.
Prof. Yan, Xiyun, Director of Key Laboratory of Protein and Peptide Drugs of IBP, stated in a press release, “Through MicroConstants China’s well established global drug development network and its global GLP/GCP compliance quality system, we will be able to expedite AA98 antibody drug development efforts. This will become a new model for industry and academic collaborations and licensing.”
“The execution of this licensing agreement with IBP verifies our business model in drug incubation and is an important milestone for MicroConstants China,” Dr. Q. David Yang, Chief Executive Officer of MicroConstants China, further added. “CD146 is a novel potential drug target discovered by Chinese scientists and can be used for the screening of drug candidates for the diagnosis and treatment of variety of human disorders. As a world-renowned scientist, Prof. Yan’s reputation is built upon her thoroughness in her research. Her work laid the foundation for the selection of AA98 antibody drug candidates. I am honored that Prof. Yan chose MicroConstants China as the partner for AA98 antibody development.”
