ImaginAb, Inc. Enters Into Exclusive Licensing Agreement With University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) For Immune Cell Imaging Agents

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LOS ANGELES, June 3, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- ImaginAb, Inc. and the Regents of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) have executed a technology licensing agreement relating to novel immune cell-targeting agents for imaging with Positron Emission Tomography (PET). Inflammation and immune response play a fundamental role in a wide variety of diseases including cancer and autoimmune diseases. Under the agreement, ImaginAb gains exclusive access to novel imaging agents that target specific markers of murine T-cells, enabling a new understanding of response to immunotherapeutic drugs in pre-clinical models.

"UCLA is a thought leader in the field of cancer immunology and other immune-mediated diseases," said Dr. Christian Behrenbruch, co-founder and CEO of ImaginAb. "These imaging agents provide new insights into the development of novel immunotherapy strategies and may deliver better understanding of the role of immune function in a wide variety of disease settings."

These research "ImmunoPET" imaging agents complement ImaginAb's active clinical development programs, particularly in the cancer immunotherapy space. The imaging of T-cell targets such as CD3 and CD8 has the potential to improve on the limited efficacy of tissue and blood-based biomarker strategies to effectively predict and monitor response to drugs against important targets like PD-1/L1 or CTLA4 checkpoint inhibitors.

"Existing research tools for the evaluation of response to immunotherapies in preclinical models systems are extremely limited," commented Dr. Anna Wu co-founder of ImaginAb and Professor in the Department of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology at UCLA. "There are, however, a growing number of promising treatment strategies including combination therapies for cancer and autoimmune disease. We believe that these agents will improve our understanding immunotherapies in the research setting in order to develop more effective clinical solutions."

About ImaginAb

ImaginAb is redefining therapeutic management by harnessing the power of antibody technology for in vivo imaging. The company's proprietary antibody fragment platform yields actionable molecular information to guide treatment decisions in cancer and immunology. ImaginAb also collaborates with select biopharmaceutical partners to design imaging agents as companion diagnostics for therapeutic antibodies. ImaginAb's technology is positioned to deliver on the promise of precision medicine by improving patient outcomes and reducing the cost of healthcare. For more information, visit www.imaginab.com.

SOURCE ImaginAb, Inc.



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