Jantibody Therapeutics was created by Boston BioCom to commercialise a new class of immunologically-enhanced monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) that utilise heat shock protein 70 (HSP 70) for initial applications in oncology and infectious diseases, as well as a self-assembling HSP vaccine platform that can be used to enhance the effectiveness of existing mAbs and to readily generate cancer vaccines as well as vaccines for emerging infectious diseases.
As per the terms of the agreement, Pfenex applied its Expression Technology platform to produce initial amounts of HSP-avidin fusion protein for the Jantibodies platform. The Pfenex technology utilises a toolbox of engineered host strains and expression elements derived from Pseudomonas fluorescens bacteria to rapidly screen and identify a production strain producing soluble, active protein.
Jeffrey Gelfand, chief scientific officer of Boston BioCom, said: “Through this constructive collaboration with Pfenex, Jantibody Therapeutics has made another important step in advancing its technology platform into products that could potentially treat infections or cancers.
“Targeted monoclonal antibodies and therapeutic vaccines for oncology both represent large and rapidly growing market segments, and we are taking advantage of this opportunity with an innovative approach that may significantly improve upon existing mAbs and cancer vaccines, particularly related to the scale and range of immune response that they can achieve.”
Charles Squires, vice president of discovery and partnerships at Pfenex, said: “This project with Jantibody Therapeutics demonstrates that the Pfenex Expression Technology platform supports the rapid advancement of high-quality proteins for our partners to use in applications such as vaccines.
“Our success with the Jantibodies platform, in addition to the validation provided by our DTRA funding, establishes Pfenex as a preferred provider of rapid protein production to drug discovery and development companies.”
The Jantibodies platform is based on the immunogenic properties of heat shock proteins (HSPs), intracellular signaling molecules that generate a powerful cytotoxic immune response. The products of this platform are therapeutic antibodies and vaccines that are initially being developed against a broad range of cancers.