Generated using proprietary SHM-XEL platform; Broadly applicable to treatment of autoimmune and inflammatory disease conditions

SAN DIEGO, CA, USA | July 12, 2011 | AnaptysBio, a privately-held therapeutic antibody company, announced today the selection of a novel anti-IL17 monoclonal antibody (mAb) development candidate. The development candidate, also known as ANB004, meets stringent design goals required for differentiation against competitors on multiple key parameters.

ANB004 was generated using AnaptysBio’s proprietary SHM-XEL™ platform and represents AnaptysBio’s most advanced internal pipeline program.

AnaptysBio will continue to advance preclinical development of ANB004 as best-in-class anti-IL17 mAb for the treatment of autoimmune and inflammatory conditions. Recent clinical data has validated the therapeutic benefit of IL17 blockade in treatment of a number of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, notably psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis and uveitis. ANB004’s design goals were set by AnaptysBio to provide meaningful clinical and commercial benefit over first-generation anti-IL17 mAb competitors.

“Successful generation of a differentiated anti-IL17 antibody is a key milestone for AnaptysBio and further validates our novel SHM-XEL™ platform,” James Topper, chairman, said. “Our platform provides key competitive advantages in antibody optimization and discovery, enabling us to build a pipeline of antibody therapeutics with best-in-class potential.”

About AnaptysBio

Founded in 2005, AnaptysBio, Inc. is a privately-held company focused on the generation of antibody therapeutics, and the leader in the use of somatic hypermutation, or SHM, for antibody discovery and optimization. SHM is the body’s natural process for generating potent antibodies. The Company’s SHM-XEL™ platform couples SHM with mammalian cell display to generate antibodies for therapeutic applications through an iterative process of natural evolution and high-throughput selection under controlled conditions – a process that has been referred to as “naturalizing” antibodies. This versatile platform can be used for both discovery of new antibodies and optimization of existing antibodies to generate candidates with desired properties for therapeutic applications. AnaptysBio has established broad intellectual property around the use of SHM, and is currently building a pipeline of novel therapeutic antibody product candidates. Major investors in AnaptysBio include founding investor Avalon Ventures, as well as Alloy Ventures, Frazier Healthcare Ventures, and Novo A/S. For more information, visit www.anaptysbio.com.

SOURCE: AnaptysBio