Peptech Limited and AVEO Pharmaceuticals Inc. has jointly announced that they have entered into a non-exclusive research and commercialisation agreement in which AVEO will access Peptech's superhumanisation technology to humanise internally-derived drug candidates.
The superhumanisation technology allows for modifying antibodies generated in animals so that they retain their essential therapeutic properties but appear "human-like" or "humanised" and will therefore not be rejected by the immune system of patients receiving them. Antibodies are the fastest growing class of drugs, with major product successes driving a continued high level of interest in this sector from the pharmaceutical industry worldwide, a company release stated.
Under the terms of the agreement, AVEO will provide Peptech an upfront payment for access to Peptech's intellectual property and know-how surrounding the Peptech's superhumanisation methodology for humanising antibodies. AVEO will utilise the technology in-house and will be responsible for future clinical development and commercialisation of any products made using the technology.
According to the release, Peptech will receive annual license fees and payments upon successful achievement of preclinical and clinical milestones as well as royalties on sales of any products resulting from the collaboration. Additional financial terms were not disclosed.
This is the first commercial deal Peptech (through its wholly-owned subsidiary, EvoGenix) has signed for its superhumanisation technology, which it obtained through its merger with EvoGenix in August this year, with negotiations on the deal starting prior to the merger. EvoGenix has ongoing platform technology partnerships with GlaxoSmithKline, CSL Limited and Vegenics Limited.
"AVEO Pharmaceuticals is an exciting company with a growing pipeline of innovative cancer products. We are delighted to be working with them to a common goal of advancing better therapeutic products to market. The fact that AVEO has chosen to license our superhumanisation technology, a proprietary offering that is fast becoming the benchmark for humanisation undertakings further validates our approach to creating a globally competitive antibody engineering platform," said, John Chiplin, CEO, Peptech.
"Licensing this technology from Peptech augments our internal discovery capabilities and further illustrates AVEO's commitment to maximising our antibody drug discovery and development platform. We will continue to identify technology opportunities to drive our portfolio of internally discovered drug candidates while leveraging our proprietary in vivo cancer models to direct the clinical development and ultimately realise the commercial potential of both our internally discovered and in-licensed pipeline of cancer drugs," said, Tuan Ha-Ngoc, president and CEO, AVEO.
Peptech Limited is one of the Australia's largest bio-pharmaceutical companies listed on the ASX. Peptech recently merged with EvoGenix to become a leading player in the antibody therapeutics market; a market that is expected to treble in size by 2010.
The company is focused on developing and providing antibody and protein-based human therapeutic products for the treatment of cancer and inflammatory diseases.
Peptech's value lies in its revenue generating platform technologies, diversified therapeutic products, and ability to accelerate development opportunities with its strong cash position.
Peptech's lead compound, PN0621, a differentiated anti-TNF domain antibody construct, is currently in Phase I development for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and other inflammatory diseases. Through its acquisition of EvoGenix, Peptech offers a novel proprietary technology platform to facilitate the development of antibodies and other protein therapeutics of high potency and suitable for long-term administration to patients.
Superhumanisation, a superior approach for modifying antibodies generated in animals so that they retain their essential therapeutic properties but appear "human-like" or "humanised" and therefore not rejected by the immune system of patients receiving them. In conventional humanisation the starting antibody is matched on the basis of sequence homology to a human framework. In contrast, with superhumanisation the frameworks are chosen on the basis of matched canonical structure, resulting in products that are less immunogenic, yet better retain the properties of the starting antibody, the company said.