Adimab forms antibody discovery collaborations with MD Anderson and Memorial Sloan Kettering

In each of these collaborations, Adimab will use its proprietary yeast-based discovery platform to generate IgGs for development as therapeutic products.

MD Anderson and Memorial Sloan Kettering retain full commercial rights to therapeutic products generated in their respective projects. Adimab will also use its recently launched rapid B-cell sorting capabilities in one or more of the programs.

Adimab CEO and co-founder Tillman Gerngross said: "We recognize that leading academic centers like MD Anderson and Memorial Sloan Kettering are increasingly playing a role beyond elucidating novel target biology.

"These new collaborations are indicative of how we will structure future partnerships with academic and non-profit organizations – helping leading investigators at top academic institutions generate more downstream value from publicly funded research. These partnerships are ideal for fast-tracking high-quality, early-stage research into clinical trials."

"Over the years, MSK investigators have discovered novel therapeutic targets for various cancer types. By leveraging Adimab’s capabilities in antibody generation and development, we expect to generate panels of high-quality antibodies against these targets that MSK can then assess in functional studies and identify clinical candidates for further development," said Dr. Alexander Rudensky from Memorial Sloan Kettering.

"Our goal is to generate therapeutic antibodies against novel targets to improve outcomes and positively impact patient care, in keeping with MSK’s mission."

"MD Anderson has broad expertise and insight around novel target biology, but also the established infrastructure and expertise to bring novel therapies directly to patients," stated Michael A. Curran, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Immunology at MD Anderson.

"Getting advanced therapeutic approaches to patients quickly is the goal. High-quality therapeutic leads with differentiating biology are critical for this approach."

Under the terms of these two agreements, Adimab will use its proprietary yeast-based discovery and optimization platform, at times combined with its proprietary rapid B-cell sorting capabilities, to identify fully human antibodies against selected targets. For each target, Adimab will grant its partners the right to research antibodies generated during the collaboration for potential use in therapeutic products.

For both collaborations, Adimab will receive undisclosed research fees to fund all discovery work, as well as downstream economics associated with license fees, milestones and royalties. The academic partner will retain all commercial rights and hold responsibility for the ongoing commercialization of the programs.

Over the past six years, Adimab has established funded discovery collaborations with over 35 companies.

Adimab’s funded discovery partners include many leading pharmaceutical companies, such as Merck, Roche, Novartis, Eli Lilly, Genentech, Gilead, Celgene, Kyowa Hakko Kirin, Sanofi and others. Adimab has also partnered with many mid-size and early stage venture-backed companies, including Merrimack, Five Prime, Jounce, Innovent, Alector, Acceleron, Oncothyreon, Surface Oncology, Potenza, Arsanis and others. In addition, Adimab has transferred its platform for broad use to GSK, Biogen and Novo Nordisk.