Staten Biotech Exercises Option To Develop Therapeutic SIMPLE Antibody For Dyslipidemia From Argenx

Nijmegen, The Netherlands, 6th March 2017 – Staten Biotechnology, a company focused on the treatment of dyslipidemia and reduction of cardiovascular mortality today announced that it has exercised an exclusive option to license ARGX-116 (STT-5058), an anti-ApoC3 SIMPLE Antibody from argenx N.V.

“The development of ARGX-116 (STT-5058) was only possible due to argenx’s unique skills in antibody discovery and engineering and Staten’s deep domain expertise and specialized assays in dyslipidemia. ApoC3 is known to be a challenging target; it is quite abundant and therefore difficult to clear in an effective manner”, commented Daniela Couto, Managing Director of Staten. “We are very excited to have a unique anti-ApoC3 antibody with all the right attributes and expect to have a strong impact in dyslipidemia management.”

Staten has unique expertise in dyslipidemia and collaborated with argenx to develop an antibody-based treatment for dyslipidemia since 2015, targeting ApoC3, which is involved in hypertriglyceridemia and forms a component of highly atherogenic lipoproteins. Targeting ApoC3 is expected to reduce circulating triglycerides and “remnant” lipoproteins that are the cause of the residual cardiovascular mortality in patients treated with statins. Staten has advanced the program into the preclinical stage and is preparing to initiate the first-in-man study.

ApoC3 is known to inhibit the activity of lipoprotein lipase and to reduce the uptake of atherogenic lipoprotein particles by liver cells. Multiple studies have identified ApoC3 levels to be inversely associated with a favorable lipid profile, insulin resistance and cardiovascular mortality. ARGX-116 (STT-5058) is expected to lower triglyceride levels, increase clearance of ApoC3-containing atherogenic particles and improve insulin resistance, which are currently not addressed by treatment with statins or PCSK9 antagonists.

Notes To Editors

About ApoC3

ApoC3 is a protein with several modes of action: it inhibits very-low-density-lipoproteins (VLDL) uptake by the liver and it inhibits the activity of lipoprotein lipase leading to high levels of lipoproteins and triglycerides. Loss of function mutations in ApoC3 leads to reduced incidence of vascular and heart diseases. This supports the potential of the anti-ApoC3 antibody to act as key molecule in dyslipidemia management.

About Staten Biotechnology

Staten Biotechnology aims to develop novel and innovative strategies for the treatment of dyslipidemia, with a focus on the triglyceride space. Staten Biotechnology B.V. was incorporated in 2014 by world experts in dyslipidemia, Paul da Silva Jardine, Daniel Rader and Alan Tall. Daniela Couto is the Managing Director. Forbion Capital Partners and BioGeneration Ventures are its current investors.

About argenx

argenx a clinical-stage biotechnology company with a deep pipeline of differentiated antibody-based therapies intended for the treatment of severe auto-immune diseases and cancer. It is focused on developing product candidates that are either first-in-class against novel targets or best-in-class against known, but complex, targets to treat diseases with a significant unmet medical need. Its ability to execute on this focus is enabled by its suite of differentiated technologies. Its SIMPLE AntibodyTM Platform, based on the powerful llama immune system, allows the company to exploit novel and complex targets, and its three antibody engineering technologies enable argenx to expand the therapeutic index of its product candidates.

Issued for and on behalf of Staten Biotechnology by Instinctif Partners.


For further information, please contact:

Staten Biotechnology B.V
Daniela Couto
+31-36-6993000
info@statenbiotech.com

Instinctif Partners
Daniel Gooch/ Dr Christelle Kerouedan
+44 20 7457 2020
staten-biotech@instinctif.com

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