AbGenomics International, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company integrated globally and virtually to develop targeted therapeutics for the treatment of the diseases of unmet medical needs, announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issued US Patent No. 9,089,614 entitled "Hydrophilic self-immolative linkers and conjugates thereof".

The claims of this patent related to the company's ADC platform cover the structures and the use of novel hydrophilic self-immolative linker.

"Our company is committed to protecting our intangible assets that will lead and have led to ongoing development of therapeutic products and companion diagnostics. This issued patent '614 related to the company's ADC platform sets a big step for sustaining our strong competitive strength in the field of ADC," said Dr. Ron Lin, chairman and chief executive officer of AbGenomics.

By applying the proprietary linker-payload technology together with site-specific conjugation, AbGenomics has built a strong ADC pipeline for cancer therapy. Those ADC candidates equipped with AbGenomics' ADC platform demonstrated superior in vivo antitumor efficacy and satisfactory safety profile in non-human primates. A proof of safety/efficacy study in cancer patients with one of our ADCs will be initiated in early next year.

ADC is one of the most efficacious agents known for cancer therapy. Many ADCs failed in clinical studies, however, due to toxicity issues. AbGenomics' ADC platform has two significant features: (1) a proprietary stable linker design joined with a powerful payload leads to ADCs with higher potency and lower toxicity; (2) site-specific conjugation at carefully selected conjugation sites further enhances the stability and safety of the ADC. As a result, a significant improvement of the therapeutic index of an ADC is achieved.