Global biopharmaceutical companies are pooling their respective resources against difficult-to-treat tumors, CNS diseases and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.
The past week has seen global biopharmaceutical companies teaming up to pool their respective resources against difficult-to-treat tumors, CNS diseases and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Here’s a closer look at three of them.
Biocytogen and CtM Hope to Turn Cold to Hot
Biocytogen Pharmaceuticals, based in Beijing, announced a new collaboration Monday with Shanghai-based CtM Biotech. Biocytogen and CtM Bio’s partnership leverages the unique tools offered by each company. Biocytogen has a T Cell Receptor (TCR)-Mimic platform that tests modified T cells on HLA-expressing fully human antibody mice. The platform helps to identify antibodies that can be injected to fight against a tumor’s antigens. This technology will pair well with CtM Bio’s RenMabTM and RenLiteTM mice platforms as both enable the development of fully bispecific antibodies.
By creating antibody treatments, this collaboration hopes to bring to market a new class of immunotherapy drugs that can overcome many of the limitations faced by current immunotherapies.
One major limitation they’re looking to overcome is the current inability of many immunotherapies to treat “cold” tumors. “Hot” tumors are already flooded with immune system T cells, while “cold” tumors, such as prostate and pancreas tumors, typically do not attract these important immune warriors. By combining their relative skill sets, the partners hope to turn “cold” tumors into “hot” ones, making treatments more effective for a wider variety of cancers.
Janssen and Bioasis Embark on Journey Across Blood-Brain Barrier
Another powerhouse collaboration was recently announced between Bioasis Technologies and Janssen Biotech. The two companies have agreed to pour resources into Bioasis’s proprietary xB3TM platform, a technology that helps deliver therapeutics across the blood-brain barrier to help treat Central Nervous System (CNS) diseases. As part of the agreement, Janssen will help to research, develop and commercialize therapies created using the platform.
“The unique delivery method of the xB3TM platform has the potential to overcome a significant challenge in the treatment of brain disorders, which is the ability to cross the blood-brain barrier. We are very pleased to have entered into this agreement and excited to be working with Janssen,” said Deborah Rathjen, Ph.D., executive chair of Bioasis.
With Janssen’s support, Bioasis hopes to develop treatments for neurological disorders such as Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis and epilepsy.
Bridge and Shaperon Team Up Against Fibrosis
A third partnership was struck between Bridge Therapeutics and Shaperon, both clinical-stage biotech companies with home bases in South Korea. The partners will work together on Shaperon’s BBT-209, a treatment for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF).
The deal includes an upfront payment made by Bridge of roughly USD $1.63 million to Shaperon. With potential royalty payments, the deal could be worth up to USD $24.4 million.
“By jointly working with Shaperon, our development team will make the best effort to ensure the rapid advancement for our novel drug candidate, along with the other pipeline assets under the company’s IPF franchise,” said James Lee, CEO of Bridge Therapeutics.
“We hope that BBT-209 will become a breakthrough therapy for patients with IPF, who are currently lacking treatment options” and “We will accelerate the development of innovative treatments, to help improve the quality of life for patients suffering from rare diseases, such as IPF, through our partnership with Bridge Biotherapeutics, which has a proven track record in both global drug development and business development,” said Shaperon Co-CEOs Seung-Yong Seong, M.D., Ph.D., and Myung-Sea Lee M.D., M.B.A.
