Affomix to Provide Antibodies for Kalgene Pharmaceutical's
Therapeutic and Companion Diagnostics Program
Pioneer in automated, high-throughput monoclonal antibody
selection technology announces antibody selection deal against
oncology targets in breast cancer
Press Release: December 29, 2009
BRANFORD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Affomix Corporation, a pioneer
in the development of automated, high-throughput monoclonal antibody
selection technology, announced today that Kalgene Pharmaceuticals
Inc. has signed a commercial agreement to have Affomix utilize
its Y2HExpress™ technology to select antibodies with potential
diagnostic and therapeutic utility in breast cancer. Kalgene
Pharmaceuticals Inc. is a private company focused on the development
of oncology therapeutics and companion diagnostics. The company's
portfolio of oncology products is at various stages in development,
from assay development to advanced clinical trials.
"The application of Affomix technology will accelerate
our product development schedule"
Under the terms of the agreement Affomix will generate antibodies
against several proprietary targets selected by Kalgene. Affomix
will utilize its Y2HExpress™ technology for the selection
of single-chain antibodies with substantially increased throughput,
and specificity, over conventional Y2H and alternative antibody
selection methodologies. Financial terms of the service agreement
were not disclosed, nor were the financial milestones related to
diagnostic and therapeutic applications.
"After much diligence, Kalgene chose Affomix as the company
to rapidly procure antibodies against our proprietary targets",
said Dr. T. Nathan Yoganathan, President and Chief Scientific Officer of Kalgene Pharmaceuticals
Inc. "Y2HExpress™ has the ability to select antibodies at an
unprecedented level of specificity, combined with very favorable financial
advantages," Yoganathan continued. "The application of Affomix
technology will accelerate our product development schedule",
said Robert Davidson, Director of Science and Technology for Kalgene.
"Affomix is pleased to be working with Kalgene, a pharmaceutical
company executing a strategy of therapeutic development in conjunction
with companion diagnostic development," said John Boyce, Head
of Business Development for Affomix and Co-Founder of Delphi Bio, LLC. "Our
technology and business model offers substantial incentives for developers
of therapeutic and diagnostic products".
"Our automated high-throughput procedures allow us to quickly
identify highly specific antibodies against predetermined regions of
target proteins. These antibodies are well suited for experimental
use while serving as ideal starting points for development of diagnostic
and therapeutic agents", said Michael Sherman, President of
Affomix.
About Affomix
Affomix is an emerging leader in the antibody technology space, with
high throughput methodologies to select, at an unprecedented rate,
antibodies against unmodified as well as post-translationally modified
proteins. These proprietary technologies will allow the company to
achieve its ultimate objective of generating the human Affome™,
a comprehensive set of antibodies that can be used to detect and
quantify all proteins in the human proteome. Utilizing these and
other proprietary technologies, Affomix is positioned to commercialize,
and enable the commercialization of, products that are at the convergence
of genomics and proteomics.
About Kalgene
Kalgene Pharmaceuticals Inc. is a privately-held Canadian company focused
on the development of oncology therapeutics and companion diagnostics.
The company's pipeline of oncology products are at various stages
of research and development. Its diagnostic programs are aimed at
improving clinical and survival outcomes through the use of personalized
medicine, with a particular focus on molecular diagnostic testing
for breast, bladder, epithelial and thyroid cancers. Kalgene is partnering
with many of North Americais leading clinician-scientists and academic
institutions to deliver personalized cancer therapeutics and diagnostics
that optimize patient treatment outcomes.
Forward Looking Statements: Forward-looking statements discussed herein
are based on current expectations of management of Affomix Corporation
and Kalgene Pharmaceuticals Inc. that involve substantial risks and
uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially
from the results expressed in, or implied by, these forward-looking
statements.
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