Scancell Holdings PLC (LON:SCLP) has signed its first collaboration deal with an unnamed “leading antibody technology company” as it bids to develop an early-stage technology created to directly kill tumour cells.
Under the terms of the agreement, the two will assess the technology in various formats including antibody-drug conjugates, where the antibody is linked to a drug; as bispecific antibodies that combine two or more cancer toxins; and as stand-alone antibody products.
WATCH: Antibody collaboration deal for Scancell
Scancell’s breakthrough is called AvidiMab, which works with monoclonal antibodies that already form the basis of some very effective targeted cancer treatments.
The mAbs being developed by the AIM-listed drug developer are different, however, to the run of the mill antibody.
That’s because they target tumour-associated glycans that are associated with malignancies. The ability to hone in on these so-called TaGs is enhanced with the use of AvidiMab.
Scancell has produced a pipeline of these next-generation antibodies for use in the collaboration process.
“Our first collaboration and evaluation agreement with one of the major players in the antibody development field is a significant achievement in such a short period of time and we believe our novel AvidiMab enhanced cell killing platform has broad partnering potential," said chief executive, Dr Cliff Holloway.
