Biocytogen Pharmaceuticals announced that its Project Integrum has completed 2 core milestones, and its antibody business is now entering a new stage of rapid growth.
Project Integrum is a large-scale R&D project designed to discover novel therapeutic antibodies for more than 1000 druggable targets. The project, which was initiated in March 2020, includes the following core milestones:
- Knock-out of 1000 pre-selected drug targets in RenMab™ and/or RenLite® fully human antibody mice
- Leveraging these target KO RenMice (RenMice HiTS Platform) and high-throughput screening capabilities to establish an off-the-shelf library of fully human antibody hits exhibiting species cross-reactivity, as well as broader sequence and epitope diversity
- Streamlined identification of preclinical candidates (PCC) using Biocytogen’s innovative mouse models and in vivo/in vitro pharmacology platforms
- Development of antibody candidates into various drug modalities through joint or internal research, including monoclonal antibodies, bispecific antibodies, and ADCs.
The company has officially completed the first two milestones on schedule; nearly 1000 target KO RenMice® strains have been generated, more than 900 target antibody discovery projects have been completed, and a library containing 400k to 500k fully human antibody sequences has been established. 30+ PCC-stage molecules have also been successfully identified.
The rapid progress of the project has directly led to the exponential growth of Biocytogen’s antibody licensing and co-development business, with 50 antibody asset-based co-development/out-licensing/transfer agreements established, including partnerships with 6 multinational pharmaceutical companies. In addition, 5 collaborative products are expected to submit IND applications and start clinical trials in 2024. As the number of co-development products entering clinical trials increases, Biocytogen's ongoing business growth will be fueled not only by upfront payments but also by milestone payments.
As Project Integrum shifts focus to the latter milestones, the company will work with collaborators to expedite the development of selected antibodies against key targets to enter into the clinic.
Dr. Yuelei Shen, President and CEO of Biocytogen, said: “Project Integrum aims to overcome several difficulties in the field, such as crowded target selection and high cost, time-consuming antibody discovery. Species cross-reactive fully human antibodies derived from our platform can significantly reduce preclinical research time and cost, while improving the rate of translational success. We adopt an open, flexible and diverse business model to share our antibody repertoire and resources with global partners to reduce their development costs and increase the success rate by minimizing redundant investments and improving resource utilization efficiency. We welcome more collaborators to join us in this endeavor, working together to develop better antibody drugs that will
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