May 5 2015
Immune Pharmaceuticals Inc., a clinical stage bio-pharmaceutical company with a first-in-class monoclonal antibody, bertilimumab, for the treatment of auto-immune diseases, and STC Biologics, a biotechnology development company led by alumni of Genentech, Shire, Novartis and Merrimack Pharmaceuticals, announced today that they are entering into a strategic partnership to accelerate the development of NanomAbs, a new generation of Antibody Nanoparticle Conjugates allowing the targeted delivery of chemo-therapeutics.
Immune and STC will jointly present pre-clinical proof of concept data today in a poster session entitled: "NanomAbs Novel Targeted Nanomedicine Platform for Improved Cancer Therapy" at the PEGS - The Essential Protein Engineering Summit, MA, May 4-8, 2015, in Boston. PEGS is the premier event for antibody and protein science research and the biologics industry, with more than 1800 participants in attendance from over 30 countries.
Dr. Daniel Teper, CEO of Immune commented: "We believe that the combined capabilities and assets of Immune and STC Biologics will allow us to accelerate development toward initial clinical trials with NanomAbs and expand our portfolio of NanomAb drug candidates."
Dr. Magdalena Leszczyniecka, CEO of STC Biologics added: "NanomAbs are a promising new platform technology that may allow targeted delivery of chemotherapeutic agents decreasing the risk of systemic exposure to these products. We believe that our portfolio of antibodies will expand the targeting capabilities of the NanomAbs."
The NanomAb technology has been licensed by Immune from Yissum, the Technology Transfer company of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and was originally developed by Professor Benita, former Director of the Institute for Drug Research at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
The Immune Pharmaceuticals-STC Biologics strategic partnership will leverage research capabilities of STC in Cambridge, MA and Immune in Jerusalem, Israel. Development will initially focus on HER2-targeted paclitaxel nanoparticles using an anti-HER2 monoclonal antibody developed by STC, and H-Ferritin targeted paclitaxel nanoparticles using an anti-H Ferritin monoclonal antibody developed by Immune. Licensing and joint-development agreements between STC and Immune are expected to be finalized during the second quarter 2015
About Immune Pharmaceuticals
Immune Pharmaceuticals Inc. applies a personalized approach to treating and, developing novel, highly-targeted antibody therapeutics to improve the lives of patients with inflammatory diseases and cancer. The Company's lead product candidate, bertilimumab, is in clinical development for moderate to severe ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease as well as bullous pemphigoid, an orphan auto-immune dermatological condition. Immune licensed worldwide rights for systemic indications of bertilimumab from iCo Therapeutics (TSX: ICO; OTCQX: ICOTF) in June 2011, while iCo retained rights to all ophthalmic indications. iCo originally licensed the exclusive world-wide rights to bertilimumab in 2006 from MedImmune, the Global Research and Development arm of AstraZeneca. Immune's pipeline also includes NanomAbs, antibody nanoparticle conjugates, for the targeted delivery of chemotherapeutics, and AmiKet™, a Neuropathic Pain drug candidate ready for a Phase III clinical trial. AmiKet has received Orphan Drug Designation in the U.S. for Post-Herpetic Neuralgia.
For more information, visit Immune's website at www.immunepharmaceuticals.com, the content of which is not a part of this press release.
About STC Biologics
STC Biologics, Inc. is a biotechnology company with laboratories in Cambridge, MA USA focusing on development of biologics and complex products. STC's drug portfolio includes a diversified mix of biosimilars and novel biologics. STC's bioservices group caters to wider product classes, including peptides, RNA and liposomal products, in addition to complex glycoproteins and biosimilars. STC's core competency is in generating biologic drugs with specific product attributes through innovations in process development and understanding structure-activity-relationships. STC's team has brought several biologics to global regulatory approvals, with more than fifty years of collective experience in drug development.