Advanced Proteome Therapeutics formulates strategic plan featuring novel antibody program

The company is focusing on enabling technology, designed to link antibodies to drugs or toxins to produce pure and homogeneous ADCs.

The high demand for site-specific labeling technologies and potential for deal-making in the field of antibody-drug conjugates (ADC) that has emerged during APC's recent business development activities, particularly as it applies to anti-cancer therapeutics, has prompted the formulation of an aggressive strategic plan and a clear definition of the path forward to achieve the company's commercial goals.

ADCs are an important class of highly potent biopharmaceutical drugs designed as a targeted therapy for the treatment of people with cancer. By combining the unique targeting capabilities of monoclonal antibodies with the cancer-killing ability of cytotoxic drugs, ADCs allow sensitive discrimination between healthy and diseased tissue and provide a basis for avoiding the morbidity and toxicities associated with traditional chemotherapy. The company is advancing a technology platform featuring a universal antibody linker designed to attach virtually any payload (e.g., drug or toxin), site specifically, to any IgG1 antibody to produce antibody-drug conjugates. APC has filed three patent applications disclosing multiple approaches to site-specifically labelling antibodies and has designed an analytical protocol, filling an unmet need, intended to distinguish between site-specific and non-specific labelling. Several proprietary molecules targeting key antibody sites have been prepared by APC scientists and are currently being advanced in testing.

APC is focusing on enabling technology, designed to link antibodies to drugs or toxins to produce pure and homogeneous ADCs. ADCs afford numerous opportunities for improving the properties of therapeutic antibodies, but reliable methods for site-specifically attaching drugs or toxins to antibodies to give ADCs of high purity are needed to avoid the heterogeneity that currently limits applications of ADCs. Immense growth is expected for the therapeutic antibody market which is estimated to reach nearly $125 billion by 2020. The number of therapeutic antibodies and the companies producing them are legion, and growing, but comparatively few companies have capabilities for chemical modification of such antibodies.

In light of these circumstances, APC has embarked upon a plan involving collaborations to advance the company on three fronts. First, the company is involved in discussions with premier research institutions to apply capabilities and resources that can elevate the company's technology and provide even greater appeal to partners and investors. Second, the company is engaged in joint efforts with other biotechnology companies to produce novel, proprietary ADC products and increase the odds for commercial success. Third, in conjunction with expanding its annexin and antibody projects, APC is pursuing funding in the form of grants to cover collaborative R&D in public/private partnerships.