News
Amorfix and Epitomics enter into agreement to develop novel monoclonal antibodies against disease specific epitopes for the tratment of cancers
Toronto, Canada - May 11, 2010
Amorfix Life Sciences and Epitomics, Inc. announced today that they have entered into an agreement to develop high-affinity monoclonal antibodies against a number of targets for cancer. Amorfix has identified several disease specific epitopes (DSEs) on misfolded proteins with their proprietary ProMIS(TM) computational platform discovery technology, which will be used by Epitomics to generate highly specific monoclonal antibodies (mAbs).
Epitomics, together with its partners, has successfully generated over a dozen humanized therapeutic antibody drug leads targeting immune diseases and cancers using RabMAb(R) technology and its proprietary Mutation Lineage Guided (MLG) humanization technology. "Targeting misfolded proteins on cancer cells is a novel approach to developing treatments for cancers. The ProMIS(TM) technology enables the identification of DSEs likely present on cancer cells and should generate proprietary mAbs with greater selectivity and safety" said Dr. Robert Gundel, Vice President of Research and Development at Amorfix. "In addition, Amorfix's vast expertise in diagnostics puts us in a great position to develop companion diagnostics for patient selection and monitoring of clinical efficacy. We are very pleased to be collaborating with Epitomics, a company with a proven track record of success in developing clinical-grade antibodies."
"Epitomics' proprietary RabMAbs(R) platform is a proven approach to the generation of high affinity mAbs against peptide targets", said Weimin Zhu, Senior Vice President of Antibody Technology at Epitomics. "We are pleased that Amorfix has recognized the unique features and benefits of our RabMAb(R) platform for developing high quality and high affinity antibodies with the potential to recognize unique epitopes. We look forward to assisting Amorfix in building its product pipeline".
About Amorfix
Amorfix Life Sciences Ltd. (TSX:AMF - News) is a theranostics company developing therapeutic products and diagnostic devices targeting misfolded protein diseases including ALS, cancer, Alzheimer's Disease and variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD). Amorfix utilizes its computational discovery platform, ProMIS(TM), to predict novel Disease Specific Epitopes ("DSE") on the molecular surface of misfolded proteins. Amorfix's lead therapeutic programs include antibodies and vaccines to DSEs in ALS, Alzheimer's disease and cancer. Amorfix's proprietary Epitope Protection(TM) (EP) technology enables it to specifically identify very low levels of aggregated misfolded proteins (AMP) in a normal sample. The Company's diagnostic programs include an ultrasensitive method for the detection of aggregated Beta-Amyloid in brain tissue and CSF of animal models of Alzheimer's disease, months prior to observable amyloid formation, and a blood screening test for vCJD. For more information about Amorfix, visit www.amorfix.com
About Epitomics
Epitomics, Inc, is a biotechnology company dedicated to developing breakthrough monoclonal antibody technology for research, diagnostic and therapeutic applications. The Company's core technology is its unique and proprietary RabMAb(R) (Rabbit Monoclonal Antibody) technology which produces antibodies with superior binding affinity and bioactivity in a wide variety of biological assays. Epitomics has also developed a proprietary method for humanizing RabMAbs called Mutation Lineage Guided (MLG) humanization for generating candidate therapeutic leads. Epitomics, Inc. is headquartered in Burlingame, California, and operates a wholly owned subsidiary in Hangzhou, the People's Republic of China.
