Affitech reports milestone achievement in antibody discovery partnership

Peregrine presented preclinical studies demonstrating that PGN635, a fully human antibody discovered as part of their collaboration, exhibits antitumor efficacy by targeting phosphatidylserine (PS).

PGN635 was isolated using Affitech’s unique methods for selection and improvement of fully human antibodies from large libraries. In vitro studies demonstrate that by blocking the anti-inflammatory signals of the phosphatidylserine found on the surface of targeted cells, PGN635 could create a unique tumor microenvironment through enhanced production of the pro-inflammatory cytokines TNF-alpha and GM-CSF, while decreasing production of anti-inflammatory cytokines such as interleukin 10.

The studies also show that PGN635 promotes the migration of tumor-killing macrophages and induces antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity. In addition to the in vitro studies, in vivo studies showed that, the antibody localizes to tumor blood vessels, but not to blood vessels of healthy tissue. Peregrine will continue to assess the potential of this antibody for the treatment of solid tumors and other diseases.

Martin Welschof, CEO of Affitech, said: “These excellent results mark another milestone in our collaboration with Peregrine and our ability to discover fully human antibodies with excellent properties. In addition, we are building up our own oncology pipeline with the help of our innovative CBAS (Cell Based Antibody Selection) discovery system.”