4-Antibody expands partnership with Ludwig Institute and Recepta Biopharma

The focus of the research and clinical development partnership will be the generation and development of three antibody products targeting immune checkpoints important in cancer therapy.  4-Antibody will use its high-throughput Retrocyte Display technology platform to generate and produce fully human therapeutic antibodies against three targets with key roles in the suppression of immune responses in patients with cancer. The parties anticipate the first candidate to enter clinical trials in early 2015. The Ludwig Institute will validate the new constructs and then, together with Recepta Biopharma, take these antibody drugs into early clinical testing in cancer in both the United States and Brazil, respectively.
 
Under the terms of the deal, 4-Antibody and Ludwig jointly own the antibody drugs while Recepta Biopharma obtains exclusive commercial rights to Brazil in return for undisclosed licensing fees. 4-Antibody will take the lead securing commercialization partners for the antibody drugs in territories outside Brazil on behalf of itself and Ludwig. Future returns from the collaboration outside of Brazil will be shared among the three parties.
 
“We are expanding our pre-existing research and development alliance with the Ludwig Institute to include new clinically validated immune checkpoint targets in this exciting and fast developing field in cancer immunotherapy.  Our near-term goal is to generate early data which will guide decisions on both optimum combination therapies as well as final product formats,” said Robert Burns, PhD, CEO of 4-Antibody.
 
“We have seen tremendous progress in the development of treatments that harness the power of the immune system to better detect and treat cancer. This expanded collaboration will enable us to identify and evaluate new combinations of treatments to facilitate the development of the next generation of more potent immunotherapy drugs,” concluded Jonathan Skipper, PhD, the Ludwig Institute’s Executive Director of Technology Development.
 
Fernando Perez, PhD, Recepta’s CEO, added, “Recepta is committed to developing and testing innovative antibody-based cancer treatments for patients. This partnership expands our pipeline to include the development and testing of the next generation of immunomodulatory drugs, further strengthening Recepta’s role in the Brazilian biotechnology health market”.

4 Antibody is based in Basel and was founded in 2002. The compnay war awarded the CTI Start-up label in 2004.