Crescendo Biologics Reaches Technical Milestone for a Second Target in Strategic Collaboration with Takeda

CAMBRIDGE, England--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Crescendo Biologics Ltd (Crescendo), the developer of targeted T-cell engagers, today announced that it has achieved another technical milestone in its collaboration with Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (Takeda; TSE:4502).

Crescendo’s global, strategic, multi-target collaboration and license agreement with Takeda was announced in October 2016. Under this agreement, Crescendo’s proprietary transgenic platform and engineering expertise is used to identify and configure Humabody^®-based therapeutics against certain targets selected by Takeda.

This milestone, for an undisclosed amount, marks the successful delivery of another highly diverse panel of functional Humabody^® leads against the second of Takeda’s selected targets. The achievement of an equivalent milestone related to the first of Takeda’s selected targets was announced in April 2018.

Dr Peter Pack, CEO of Crescendo, commented:

“Crescendo has once again demonstrated its ability to deliver, ahead of schedule, a diverse selection of functional Humabody^® molecules meeting the stringent specifications outlined in the collaboration agreement.

“Our highly productive relationship draws together Takeda’s deep oncology experience with Crescendo’s expertise in developing optimally configured Humabodies. Together we are fast progressing towards our goal of developing next generation, highly modular and multi-functional biologics against cancer. This is another important step forward for Crescendo and further validates the power of our innovative technology.”

-Ends-

Notes to Editors

About Crescendo Biologics Ltd

Crescendo Biologics is a biopharmaceutical company developing potent, truly differentiated mono- and multifunctional Humabody^® therapeutics in oncology with a proprietary pipeline focus on innovative targeted T-cell approaches.

At the heart of its proprietary pipeline, Crescendo has developed CB307, a novel bispecific PSMA-targeted T-cell engager for the selective activation of tumour-specific T-cells exclusively within the tumour microenvironment, thereby avoiding systemic toxicity. This highly modular format can be re-configured to create a pipeline of multiple therapeutic candidates each treating a different cancer indication, by targeting any of a range of alternative tumour-specific markers.

The Company’s ability to develop mono- and multi-functional Humabody^® therapeutics is based on its unique, patent protected, transgenic mouse platform generating 100% human V_H domain building blocks (Humabody^® V_H). These robust molecules can be configured to engage therapeutic targets delivering novel biology and superior biodistribution. This results in larger therapeutic windows compared to conventional IgG-approaches.

Crescendo is pursuing novel Humabody^®-based product opportunities, through in-house development and strategic partnerships, including multi-functional immuno-oncology modulators and Humabody^® Drug Conjugates (HDCs), the next generation of ADCs. Humabody^®-based formats can also be applied across a range of non-cancer indications.

Crescendo is located in Cambridge, UK, and is backed by blue-chip investors including Sofinnova Partners, Andera Partners, IP Group, Quan Capital, Takeda and Astellas.

For more information, please visit the website: www.crescendobiologics.com

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180815005064/en/