arGEN-X, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on creating and developing differentiated therapeutic antibodies for the treatment of cancer and severe autoimmune diseases, has collaborated with Bayer Pharma AG (Bayer), leveraging arGEN-X’s SIMPLE Antibody technology for the discovery and development of therapeutic antibodies. The collaboration centers on a novel approach to addressing complex targets across multiple therapeutic areas that are often intractable by existing antibody platforms.

“We are delighted that Bayer, with its long-standing expertise in drug development, will make use of the SIMPLE Antibody platform. As a company, we are dedicated to forming elite partnerships and feel that with this new collaboration, we have firmly established SIMPLE Antibody as an innovative solution to reaching intractable targets and tackling unmet needs in antibody discovery,” said Tim Van Hauwermeiren, chief executive officer of arGEN-X. “We are confident that by building on our proprietary capabilities in DNA immunization and the unique immune system of the llama, we have developed a novel platform that will create potential new product opportunities.”

With this collaboration, arGEN-X will apply its SIMPLE Antibody technology to multiple targets submitted by Bayer. The parties will work together to validate human antibody leads in disease-relevant models, with Bayer being responsible for further preclinical and clinical development and commercialization of therapeutic antibody products. Under the terms of the Agreement, Bayer will pay arGEN-X an upfront technology access fee, research support and technical success-based milestones. Bayer will also pay clinical, regulatory and product sales-based milestones as antibody programs progress through clinical development and registration.

“We look forward to collaborating with arGEN-X and exploring the potential of SIMPLE Antibody technology to complement Bayer's efforts in the discovery and development of first-in-class therapeutic antibodies,” said Dr. Harald Dinter, head of global biologics at Bayer Pharma AG.