Antibody inhibits Tau aggregation involved in the pathology of Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases
London, UK, 22 July 2014: MRC Technology, a technology transfer organisation, announced today that it has successfully humanized an anti-tau monoclonal antibody, which has applications in the treatment of Alzheimer’s and related neurodegenerative tauopathies. The humanized tau antibody represents an important milestone for developing a disease modifying immunotherapy for Alzheimer’s disease. MRC Technology was contracted to humanize the antibody by AXON Neuroscience SE, a biotechnology company dedicated to the development of disease modifying immunotherapeutics and early diagnostics for Alzheimer’s disease.
Alzheimer’s disease is characterized by the presence of neurofibrillary tangles consisting of diseased forms of protein tau. Tau cortical neurofibrillary tangles correlate well with the severity of cognitive impairment in Alzheimer’s disease and thus represent a valuable target for disease modifying therapy. Targeting disease modified tau appears to be a promising way to slow down or even stop progression of the disease.
Michael Dalrymple, Director of Business Development at MRC Technology, said: We are very pleased with the outcome of this project and are hopeful that the positive evaluation results for the humanized antibody will prove to be a milestone in the development of effective treatments for this debilitating disease.”
“Treatment of Alzheimer’s disease is still recognised as an unmet medical need. Our company has considerable expertise in the area and I believe we are on the right track to developing an effective therapy that has the potential to stop progress of the disease,” commented Roman Sivak, Chief Executive Officer at AXON Neuroscience. “We thank MRC Technology for their invaluable support in humanizing this antibody, an essential step in its development as an immune-based therapeutic.”
MRC Technology has humanized over 50 antibodies to date, including three marketed products, Tysabri (natalizumab), Actemra (tocilizumab) and Entyvio (vedolizumab). A further six are in clinical trials (including pembrolizumab (MK3475)), with two more in preclinical studies.
Contacts
Media enquiries
Sarah Jeffery
Zyme Communications
E-mail: sarah.jeffery@zymecommunications.com
Phone: +44 (0) 7771 730919
At MRC Technology
Suzy Hargreaves
Marketing & Communications Officer
E-mail: shargreaves@tech.mrc.ac.uk
Phone: +44 (0)20 7391 2798
About MRC Technology
MRC Technology (www.mrctechnology.org) is an independent life science technology transfer charity, offering professional services to organisations within the academic, charity, biotechnology and pharmaceutical sectors globally. Services include IP management and research and development for diagnostics, small molecules and therapeutic antibodies. MRC Technology bridges the gap between basic medical research and commercialisation, helping early discoveries progress to clinical application.
About AXON Neuroscience SE
AXON Neuroscience (www.axon-neuroscience.eu) is a biotech company dedicated to the development of disease modifying immunotherapy and early diagnostics for Alzheimer’s disease.
Ground-breaking discoveries in Alzheimer’s disease research made by AXON Neuroscience enabled the company to create a therapeutic platform of global importance. The target products of strategic importance in this platform are revolutionary therapeutic candidate vaccines for treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.
AXON Neuroscience has developed unique animal models that reproduce Alzheimer’s disease, which allow for a swift and effective pre-clinical validation of efficacy of new therapeutics and pre-clinical evaluation of diagnostic tools.
Strategically targeted research and development provides AXON Neuroscience with conditions for future production of an extensive assortment of disease modifying pharmaceuticals and diagnostic methods for Alzheimer’s disease.
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