Southampton provides cutting edge technology for more effective cancer treatments
The University of Southampton has provided access for BioInvent International (OMXS: BINV) to novel technology for making highly effective immune stimulatory antibodies to combat cancer. This initiative continues Southampton’s long-standing research collaborations with BioInvent.
The precise shape of an antibody makes a critical difference to how it can stimulate the body's immune system to fight cancer. A key research team at University of Southampton, supported by Cancer Research Technology, has been able to engineer antibodies that will be locked into the particular shape (called a locked B structure) that is most potent, making them much stronger immune stimulators than previous drugs. This achievement has recently been thoroughly described in the renowned scientific journal Cancer Cell(1).
The University of Southampton, together with Cancer Research Technology (CRT), has now granted BioInvent a non-exclusive license for this specific form of antibody – IgG2B – that can work independently without needing help from other immune cells, making it more active and able to work in all tissues of the body.
“We are delighted to be able to continue our close collaboration with BioInvent on a key immunotherapy program that will develop innovative drugs to boost anti-cancer immunity in patients currently lacking treatment options,” said Professor Martin Glennie at the University of Southampton.
“We are very pleased to be able to work with this technology from Southampton and to discover ways to utilise it in our future clinical development programs. I continue to be impressed with the science from our partners at Southampton and am eager to work with them on yet another scientific program,” commented Björn Frendeus, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer of BioInvent.
Cancer Research Technology is a wholly owned subsidiary of Cancer Research UK, the world's leading cancer charity dedicated to saving lives through research. University of Southampton is ranked among the top one per cent of universities worldwide and hosts a range of premier scientists and physicians within the immuno-oncology area.
(1)White, A.L., Claude Chan, H.T., French, R.R. et al (2015). Conformation of the Human Immunoglobulin G2 Hinge Imparts Superagonistic Properties to Immunostimulatory Anticancer Antibodies (2015). Cancer Cell 27, 138-148
Notes for editors
BioInvent
BioInvent International AB develops immune oncology drugs. With one of the world’s largest antibody libraries, and a unique, proprietary discovery method, BioInvent can identify the optimal cellular targets and antibodies for the treatment of various tumor types. BioInvent has also considerable experience in and a facility for process development and production of antibodies for clinical studies. This makes it possible to develop proprietary drug projects, but also to supply leading international pharmaceutical companies with effective tools for their drug development. BioInvent currently has three proprietary projects in or close to clinical development and partnership agreements with seven global pharmaceutical and biotech companies. More information is available at www.bioinvent.com.
Cancer Research Technology (CRT)
CRT is a specialist commercialisation and development company, which aims to develop new discoveries in cancer research for the benefit of cancer patients. CRT works closely with leading international cancer scientists and their institutes to protect intellectual property arising from their research and to establish links with commercial partners. CRT facilitates the discovery, development and marketing of new cancer therapeutics, vaccines, diagnostics and enabling technologies. CRT is a wholly owned subsidiary of Cancer Research UK, the world's leading cancer charity dedicated to saving lives through research. Further information about CRT can be found at www.cancertechnology.com.
About Cancer Research UK
- Cancer Research UK is the world’s leading cancer charity dedicated to saving lives through research.
- Cancer Research UK’s pioneering work into the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer has helped save millions of lives.
- Cancer Research UK receives no government funding for its life-saving research. Every step it makes towards beating cancer relies on every pound donated.
- Cancer Research UK has been at the heart of the progress that has already seen survival rates in the UK double in the last forty years.
- Today, 2 in 4 people survive cancer. Cancer Research UK’s ambition is to accelerate progress so that 3 in 4 people will survive cancer within the next 20 years.
- Cancer Research UK supports research into all aspects of cancer through the work of over 4,000 scientists, doctors and nurses.
- Together with its partners and supporters, Cancer Research UK's vision is to bring forward the day when all cancers are cured.
For further information about Cancer Research UK's work or to find out how to support the charity, please call 0300 123 1022 or visit www.cancerresearchuk.org. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.
Further information
The press release contains statements about the future, consisting of subjective assumptions and forecasts for future scenarios. Predictions for the future only apply as the date they are made and are, by their very nature, in the same way as research and development work in the biotech segment, associated with risk and uncertainty. With this in mind, the actual outcome may deviate significantly from the scenarios described in this press release.
Information disclosed in this press release is provided herein pursuant to the Swedish Financial Instruments Trading Act. The information was submitted for publication at 8.40 a.m. CET, on 10 December, 2015.