Antitope to produce cell line for Baylor Institute
For novel therapeutic dendritic-cell-targeting vaccine
Antitope, a subsidiary of UK company Abzena, formerly the PolyTherics Group, will develop a manufacturing cell line for the Baylor Institute for Immunology Research (BIIR), a Dallas, Texas-based centre for translational immunology research, using its Composite CHO technology.
Antitope specialises in immunogenicity assessment, protein engineering and cell line development.
BIIR is developing therapeutic vaccines for the treatment of cancer and other diseases, and Antitope will develop a cell line for the production of BIIR’s novel dendritic-cell-targeting vaccine for the treatment of head and neck and cervical cancer.
Antitope has developed the Composite CHO technology for the generation of stable cell lines producing high yields of proteins and antibodies ready for cGMP manufacture.
The current project broadens the relationship between Antitope and BIIR, initiated several years ago when Antitope applied its Composite Human Antibody technology to humanise several novel BIIR antibodies. These antibodies have been an important tool for BIIR in the development of its therapeutic vaccines.
The current project broadens the relationship between Antitope and BIIR
Abzena was created last month to provide a strong group identity across its two subsidiaries, PolyTherics and Antitope, following their combination in July 2013.
This summer, PolyTherics’ operations will move from London to the Babraham Research Campus in Cambridge, the current site of Antitope's operations, and thus Abzena's headquarters and major operations will be positioned at the heart of one of the world's leading clusters for biopharmaceutical innovation. It will also grow its operations on the Warwick University Science Park where it maintains a presence following the acquisition of Warwick Effect Polymers by PolyTherics in January 2012.
Over the past decade, PolyTherics and Antitope have built a global customer base which includes many of the major, international pharmaceutical companies, large and small biotech companies and academic groups.
Matthew Baker, Chief Scientific Officer of Abzena and founder of Antitope, said the formation of Abzena 'is an important next step in our strategy to become a leading provider of technologies and services which enable the successful development of biopharmaceuticals. We believe a new, combined identity provides a strong platform for further growth.'
PolyTherics specialises in proprietary site-specific conjugation technologies for antibody drug conjugate development and solutions for optimisation of the therapeutic properties of biopharmaceuticals.
