Company claims to be the only antibody discovery specialist offering both phage and yeast platforms.
Antibody discovery firm AbCheck negotiated nonexclusive rights to Celexion’s Secant™ yeast display antibody technology. The licensing agreement means the Czech Republic-based firm can use the technology in house and commercialize derived products worldwide.
AbCheck says Celexion’s platform will complement its existing phage display libraries. It says that it is now the only antibody discovery specialist exploiting both phage and yeast display capabilities. “Now we have the maximum likelihood to identify antibodies with exactly the drug target profile requested by our partners,” suggests Vera Molkenthin, Ph.D., AbCheck CSO.
“In our discussions with partners we noticed an increasing demand for human antibodies with not only high affinity and target specificities but also good druggability and biological functionalities,” remarks CEO Volker Lang, Ph.D. “By combining the strength of both yeast and phage technologies into AbSeive we have created a platform that exactly addresses this market need.”
Celexion describes its Secant Yeast Display Platform as a high-throughput discovery and optimization system that represents the first yeast-based technology capable of displaying full-length IgG antibodies. This year the firm aims to launch a fully human, full-length, naive IgG library for lead antibody generation, which will be available for licensing. Celexion is looking to leverage its technology through antibody collaborations with industry partners.
AbCheck offers a broad package of antibody discovery services, from early-stage research to lead optimization. The firm’s capabilities are based on three distinct natural, synthetic, and semi-synthetic phage display human antibody libraries that together comprise a total of 1010 sequentially and structurally diverse antibodies.
AbCheck signed its first antibody deal, with Eli Lilly, in October 2010. Under terms of this agreement AbCheck is using its three antibody discovery libraries to derive high-affinity, fully human antibodies against an undisclosed number of Lilly targets.
“This discovery deal with Lilly is an important validation of our antibody discovery and business approach,” Dr. Lang commented at the time. “Signing our first deal with such a significant company so soon after setting up AbCheck, has certainly given us a tremendous boost of confidence that AbCheck is following a successful business strategy.”
