Raven Biotechnologies, Inc. Announces Collaboration With Monogram Biosciences to Advance Diagnostic Cancer Technologies

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., April 8, 2008 /PRNewswire/ -- Raven biotechnologies, inc., a privately held company focused on the discovery and development of monoclonal antibody therapeutics (MAbs) for cancer announced today that it has entered into an agreement with Monogram Biosciences, Inc., under which Monogram will evaluate selected Raven monoclonal antibodies for use with its VeraTag(TM) technology for diagnosis of cancer.

"Raven's extensive library of antibody candidates that bind to antigens present at high levels on tumor tissue can be developed as therapeutic and diagnostic antibodies," stated George Schreiner, M.D., Ph.D., chief executive officer of Raven biotechnologies. "Through our collaboration with Monogram we hope ultimately to accelerate the development of targeted oncology therapeutics."

The Raven technology platform has generated well-characterized, high-affinity monoclonal antibodies to proteins on the cell surface that can be used to quickly identify and validate targets. The platform has delivered an extensive library of antibodies targeting novel and recognized antigens. Raven is initially focusing on antibody-based therapeutics targeting lung, colon, pancreatic, prostate, breast, and ovarian cancer.

Monogram Biosciences' VeraTag(TM) technology can accelerate the development of targeted therapeutics, improve clinical trial design and results, clarify and individualize the selection of medications, and optimize outcomes for patients with cancer and other serious diseases.

About Raven biotechnologies

Raven biotechnologies, inc. (http://www.ravenbio.com) is a privately held biotechnology company focused on the development of monoclonal antibody therapeutics for treating cancer. Raven's lead product candidate, RAV12, targets adenocarcinomas and is in clinical development for the treatment of gastrointestinal and other cancers. Raven's discovery process simultaneously identifies cell-surface drug targets and the antibody therapeutics to regulate them. Our focus on biological function allows us to rapidly identify novel target antigens and therapeutic candidates in their native configuration in the intact cell membrane. Our integrated approach is based on proprietary methods for optimizing the production of MAbs targeting cell-surface proteins, including the use of human tissue-specific progenitor and tumor stem cell lines developed at Raven.

To date Raven has identified multiple candidate therapeutic MAbs for many cancer indications including lung, colon, pancreatic, prostate, breast and ovarian cancer.

Source: Raven biotechnologies, inc.