Syntarga BV Announces Patent Grant for SpaceLink Technology for Antibody-Drug Conjugation
7/16/2009 12:31:39 PM
Nijmegen, The Netherlands – July 16, 2009 – Syntarga B.V. announces that as of
today patents have been granted for its proprietary SpaceLink Technology in Europe (EP
1370298 B1), the United States (US 7,223,837), India, China, New Zealand and
Australia. SpaceLink Technology comprises generally applicable releasable linkers to
reversibly connect a drug to a targeting vehicle. The Company's internal SpaceLink R&D
efforts concentrate on Antibody-Drug Conjugates (ADCs) that link Syntarga's extremely
potent, proprietary duocarmycin toxins, a class of DNA minor groove binding agents, to
tumor-specific antibodies.
The advantage of SpaceLink is that the linker can be applied in a modular fashion. This
makes the technology highly flexible for toxin and linker-toxin optimization to yield
premier ADC products. Syntarga has generated solid preclinical data for ADCs in which
SpaceLink connects the antibody to the DNA alkylating unit or the DNA binding unit of
the duocarmycin. Multiple ADCs based on different Linker-Drug combinations in which the
linker is connected to distinct positions on the drug have yielded substantial anti-tumor
efficacy with minimal or absent adverse effects. This underscores both the stability of the
SpaceLink linker as well as efficient release of toxin in target cells. The data validate
SpaceLink in the context of functional ADCs and emphasize SpaceLink's broad potential
as a component of future ADC products.
The granted patents provide Syntarga with an important commercial/strategic advantage
in the ADC space. "ADC therapeutics must meet a long list of criteria. The considerable
flexibility provided by our SpaceLink Technology enables selection of the optimal linkerdrug
combination in order to maximally contribute to the many desirable properties of
the Antibody-Drug Conjugate product" said Dr. Vincent de Groot, Chief Executive Officer
of Syntarga.
Preclinical data for the Company's ADC technologies, including SpaceLink, will be
presented during the "Antibody-Drug Conjugates" session of the "Next Wave of Antibody
Therapeutics" track, which is part of the forthcoming IBC Drug Discovery & Development
Week (August 3 - 5, 2009, Boston, USA).
About Potent Payload & SpaceLink Technologies
Syntarga Potent Payload Technology comprises extremely potent cell-killing agents that
are coupled to suitable linker technologies for attachment to tumor-specific monoclonal
antibodies. SpaceLink Technology is one of the linker technologies developed and
employed by Syntarga. The targeting properties of monoclonal antibodies combined with
Syntarga’s unique and fully synthetic Linker-Drug payload chemistries have yielded a
variety of ADC products that have been validated in vivo and were shown to possess a
large therapeutic window. The Company’s preclinical stage technologies are based on its
duocarmycins, a class of DNA minor groove binding alkylating agents, which possess a
range of unique characteristics making them highly suitable as ADC warheads.
About Syntarga BV
Syntarga is a private biopharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery and
development of proprietary Antibody-Drug Conjugate technology for the treatment of
cancer. The Company's cutting-edge chemistry capabilities and unique know-how have
led to the creation of Potent Payload Technology, an antibody empowering technology to
generate next generation antibody products for oncology. Syntarga is leveraging its
proprietary technologies and expertise to assist established leaders in the antibody
therapeutics space to generate and commercialize Antibody-Drug Conjugate product
candidates based on their antibodies. For more information about Syntarga, visit its
website at www.syntarga.com.
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