Mercator Therapeutics and X-BODY BioSciences announced a multi-target research collaboration
WALTHAM, MA, USA | January 6, 2011 | Mercator Therapeutics, Inc., the first biopharmaceutical company to systematically use in vivo phage display technology to develop novel cancer drugs, and X-BODY BioSciences, Inc., a developer of monoclonal antibody therapeutics, today announced a multi-target research collaboration. The companies will collaborate to develop antibodies to four of Mercator’s cancer targets identified using Mercator’s proprietary in vivo screening technology.
“Mercator is changing the cancer treatment paradigm by developing therapeutics that selectively target receptors that are highly expressed on human tumor cells, and X-BODY is excited about collaborating with Mercator to develop these much needed cancer therapeutics”
Mercator discovers ‘Homing Peptides’ and the rapidly internalizing receptors to which they home using a unique in vivo screening process, including screening in end-stage cancer patients under strict ethical guidelines. By letting the screen define the target, Mercator identifies uniquely validated oncology targets. These targets are ideally suited for the development of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), which can be used either as stand-alone therapeutics or as targeting moieties to selectively deliver cytotoxic agents to tumor cells. X-BODY’s fully human library captures the natural antibody repertoire. Compared to synthetic libraries, fully human libraries reduce the probability of side effects due to immune responses. Protein Chain Reaction™, one of the key features of X-BODY’s therapeutic platform, allows for screening against cell surface targets in their native state on live cells or purified target proteins.
Dr. Roy Lobb, Chairman & CSO of Mercator, commented, “X-BODY has identified a direct, rapid, and efficient path to fully human mAbs and mAb fragments, and we look forward to a productive collaboration employing the X-BODY therapeutic platform against our proprietary targets.”
Under the terms of the Agreement between Mercator and X-BODY, X-BODY will screen its proprietary libraries against four of Mercator’s cancer targets to identify human antibody therapeutic candidates. Mercator has the right to acquire rights to the antibodies discovered in the collaboration for further pre-clinical research, clinical development, and commercialization. Mercator will pay X-BODY undisclosed research funding, assignment fees, milestones, and royalties in connection with the development of products resulting from the collaboration.
“Mercator is changing the cancer treatment paradigm by developing therapeutics that selectively target receptors that are highly expressed on human tumor cells, and X-BODY is excited about collaborating with Mercator to develop these much needed cancer therapeutics,” said Dr. Rick Wagner, Executive Chairman of X-BODY.
About Mercator Therapeutics, Inc.
Mercator Therapeutics is the first biopharmaceutical company to use in vivo phage display technology systematically to develop novel cancer drugs. Mercator was founded to translate the research of Drs. Wadih Arap and Renata Pasqualini into effective cancer therapeutics. Drs. Arap and Pasqualini pioneered the use of in vivo phage display to identify peptides that are believed to selectively deliver tumor-killing payloads without damaging surrounding tissue. Targeting of drugs selectively to tumors in man has been a goal of basic and translational research for decades. The Arap-Pasqualini Lab is addressing this problem by directly injecting peptide-expressing phage libraries in vivo – most recently in end-stage cancer patients under strict ethical guidelines – and identifying a suite of peptides responsible for tumor targeting as well as the rapidly internalizing receptors to which the peptides home. Mercator has exclusive rights to translate this research into novel cancer therapeutics. Mercator is located in Waltham, Massachusetts. Contact Chris Guiffre at chris.guiffre@mercatortx.com for further information while Mercator’s website is under construction.
About X-BODY BioSciences, Inc.
X-BODY BioSciences was founded in 2008 by Richard Wagner, Ph.D., Gordon Binder, and Brant Binder, MBA. Dr. Wagner previously co-developed the fibronectin domain antibody-mimetic platform at Phylos, later acquired by Bristol Myers Squibb, and the DirectSelect small molecule library screening system at Praecis Pharmaceuticals, acquired by GlaxoSmithKline in 2007. Mr. Gordon Binder is the former CEO and Chairman of Amgen and member of the boards of the American Enterprise Institute, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the California Institute of Technology. Mr. Brant Binder is co-founder, COO and CFO of SRU Biosystems. X-BODY’s platform enables rapid discovery of human antibody therapeutics by interrogation of extraordinarily diverse fully human libraries. X-BODY’s versatile selection system employs next-generation sequencing to analyze thousands of hits in order to rapidly obtain high quality leads. X-BODY has employed the platform internally to identify high-affinity therapeutic candidates that target metastasis (invasion and spreading) of cancer stem cells.
SOURCE: Mercator Therapeutics, Inc.
Post Views: 31
Mercator Therapeutics and X-BODY BioSciences announced a multi-target research collaboration
WALTHAM, MA, USA | January 6, 2011 | Mercator Therapeutics, Inc., the first biopharmaceutical company to systematically use in vivo phage display technology to develop novel cancer drugs, and X-BODY BioSciences, Inc., a developer of monoclonal antibody therapeutics, today announced a multi-target research collaboration. The companies will collaborate to develop antibodies to four of Mercator’s cancer targets identified using Mercator’s proprietary in vivo screening technology.
“Mercator is changing the cancer treatment paradigm by developing therapeutics that selectively target receptors that are highly expressed on human tumor cells, and X-BODY is excited about collaborating with Mercator to develop these much needed cancer therapeutics”
Mercator discovers ‘Homing Peptides’ and the rapidly internalizing receptors to which they home using a unique in vivo screening process, including screening in end-stage cancer patients under strict ethical guidelines. By letting the screen define the target, Mercator identifies uniquely validated oncology targets. These targets are ideally suited for the development of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), which can be used either as stand-alone therapeutics or as targeting moieties to selectively deliver cytotoxic agents to tumor cells. X-BODY’s fully human library captures the natural antibody repertoire. Compared to synthetic libraries, fully human libraries reduce the probability of side effects due to immune responses. Protein Chain Reaction™, one of the key features of X-BODY’s therapeutic platform, allows for screening against cell surface targets in their native state on live cells or purified target proteins.
Dr. Roy Lobb, Chairman & CSO of Mercator, commented, “X-BODY has identified a direct, rapid, and efficient path to fully human mAbs and mAb fragments, and we look forward to a productive collaboration employing the X-BODY therapeutic platform against our proprietary targets.”
Under the terms of the Agreement between Mercator and X-BODY, X-BODY will screen its proprietary libraries against four of Mercator’s cancer targets to identify human antibody therapeutic candidates. Mercator has the right to acquire rights to the antibodies discovered in the collaboration for further pre-clinical research, clinical development, and commercialization. Mercator will pay X-BODY undisclosed research funding, assignment fees, milestones, and royalties in connection with the development of products resulting from the collaboration.
“Mercator is changing the cancer treatment paradigm by developing therapeutics that selectively target receptors that are highly expressed on human tumor cells, and X-BODY is excited about collaborating with Mercator to develop these much needed cancer therapeutics,” said Dr. Rick Wagner, Executive Chairman of X-BODY.
About Mercator Therapeutics, Inc.
Mercator Therapeutics is the first biopharmaceutical company to use in vivo phage display technology systematically to develop novel cancer drugs. Mercator was founded to translate the research of Drs. Wadih Arap and Renata Pasqualini into effective cancer therapeutics. Drs. Arap and Pasqualini pioneered the use of in vivo phage display to identify peptides that are believed to selectively deliver tumor-killing payloads without damaging surrounding tissue. Targeting of drugs selectively to tumors in man has been a goal of basic and translational research for decades. The Arap-Pasqualini Lab is addressing this problem by directly injecting peptide-expressing phage libraries in vivo – most recently in end-stage cancer patients under strict ethical guidelines – and identifying a suite of peptides responsible for tumor targeting as well as the rapidly internalizing receptors to which the peptides home. Mercator has exclusive rights to translate this research into novel cancer therapeutics. Mercator is located in Waltham, Massachusetts. Contact Chris Guiffre at chris.guiffre@mercatortx.com for further information while Mercator’s website is under construction.
About X-BODY BioSciences, Inc.
X-BODY BioSciences was founded in 2008 by Richard Wagner, Ph.D., Gordon Binder, and Brant Binder, MBA. Dr. Wagner previously co-developed the fibronectin domain antibody-mimetic platform at Phylos, later acquired by Bristol Myers Squibb, and the DirectSelect small molecule library screening system at Praecis Pharmaceuticals, acquired by GlaxoSmithKline in 2007. Mr. Gordon Binder is the former CEO and Chairman of Amgen and member of the boards of the American Enterprise Institute, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the California Institute of Technology. Mr. Brant Binder is co-founder, COO and CFO of SRU Biosystems. X-BODY’s platform enables rapid discovery of human antibody therapeutics by interrogation of extraordinarily diverse fully human libraries. X-BODY’s versatile selection system employs next-generation sequencing to analyze thousands of hits in order to rapidly obtain high quality leads. X-BODY has employed the platform internally to identify high-affinity therapeutic candidates that target metastasis (invasion and spreading) of cancer stem cells.
SOURCE: Mercator Therapeutics, Inc.
Post Views: 31
