Immune Pharmaceuticals Inc., a clinical-stage company developing novel therapies for the treatment of immuno-inflammatory diseases and cancer, announced new data pertaining to a novel bi-specific antibody for cancer treatment in a poster presentation at IBC’s Antibody Engineering & Therapeutics Conference in San Diego, California. Immune’s poster, titled “Design and Validation of a Novel Tetravalent IgG1-like Bi-Specific Antibody Format,” was on display at the recent conference, the industry’s largest antibody engineering and therapeutics event.
In this study, the company described positive developments with a novel platform for production of tetravalent IgG1-like bi-specific antibodies (bsAb), reporting that the prototype bi-specific antibody retained effector functions and mediated redirect killing of target cells by cytokine-induced killer T cells, demonstrating direct anti-cancer effects in vitro as well as anti-tumor activity and improved survival in a mouse xenograft model of disseminated leukemia. The newly developed platform will be further used to generate novel bi-specific antibodies against immune-oncology targets.
The poster was presented by Immune Pharmaceuticals’ executive director of R&D Boris Shor, PhD, and the company’s scientific co-founder Jean Kadouche, PhD. The platform was developed by a collaborative European consortium (BMC) led by Dr. Kadouche and funded by a European grant.
Dr. Shor, who has more than a decade of pharma industry experience in oncology drug discovery, early development and translational research, with expertise in both biologics and small molecule therapeutics, leads Immune Pharmaceuticals’ translational research efforts to support development of the company’s lead clinical stage candidate, bertilimumab (in Phase 2 clinical testing for moderate-to-severe ulcerative colitis and an orphan auto-immune dermatological condition called bullous pemphigoid), as well as the discovery and development of pipeline drugs utilizing NanomAbs — Antibody Targeted Nanoparticles — for targeted delivery of cancer drugs.
Dr. Kadouche is Immune Pharmaceuticals’ scientific advisor, focusing on development and application of novel antibody technologies. His research interests include fully human antibody generation, bi-specific antibodies and antibody drug conjugates, and he helped develop the NanomAbs technology licensed by Immune Pharmaceuticals from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Dr. Kadouche has 25 years experience in development of mAbs in both academia and industry, and was until recently CEO of MAT BioPharma, an antibody company where he developed and partnered several clinical and pre-clinical antibodies.
Immune Pharmaceuticals applies what it calls “a personalized approach” to developing novel, targeted antibody therapeutics to improve the lives of patients struggling with inflammatory diseases and cancer. Immune’s oncology pipeline includes bi-specific antibodies, nanotherapeutics including NanomAbs, and several mid- to late-stage small molecules. Immune’s non-core pipeline includes AmiKet, a late clinical stage drug candidate for the treatment of neuropathic pain.
For more information, visit Immune’s website at www.immunepharmaceuticals.com
Sources:
Immune Pharmaceuticals Inc.
IBC’s Antibody Engineering & Therapeutics Conference
