PHILADELPHIA, PA, USA I January 7, 2019 I Integral Molecular, the industry leader in membrane protein solutions, today announced that it has entered into a collaboration to discover new therapeutic targets in immuno-oncology (I-O) with Daiichi Sankyo Co., Ltd. Integral Molecular will use its Membrane Proteome Array (MPA) platform to identify novel membrane proteins that regulate the human immune system’s ability to recognize and destroy cancer cells. Daiichi Sankyo will use the identified I-O targets to develop new therapeutics. Specific financial terms of the agreement have not been disclosed.

The MPA platform contains 5,300 different human membrane proteins, each individually expressed in live human cells. Each protein is screened for ligand binding and biological function using unfixed cells and flow cytometry, enabling high-sensitivity detection and high success rates. These features, particularly the ability to detect functional interactions in live cells, make the MPA ideally suited to the discovery of new therapeutic targets.

“By discovering new targets without preconceived biases, the MPA platform overcomes the disadvantages of current approaches for identifying novel immunomodulatory proteins,” said Benjamin Doranz, President and CEO at Integral Molecular. “We have already discovered more than a dozen novel I-O interactions and confirmed that several of these interactions regulate T cells. We are looking forward to a successful collaboration with Daiichi Sankyo.”

About Integral Molecular
Integral Molecular (www.integralmolecular.com) is the industry leader in membrane protein antibody discovery, with a pipeline of therapeutic antibodies against GPCRs, ion channels, transporters, and immuno-oncology targets. Built on the company’s extensive experience optimizing membrane proteins, Integral Molecular’s technology suite enables the isolation, characterization, and engineering of MAbs against otherwise intractable targets. The company currently has therapeutic programs focused on cancer, pain, immunity, and metabolic disorders.

SOURCE: Integral Molecular