Crown Bioscience, drug discovery services company focused on oncology and metabolic disease, has begun a a collaboration to develop a CTLA-4 (Cytotoxic T-Lymphocyte-Associated Protein 4) antibody with recently founded Chinese biopharma company, Jiangsu Qyun Bio-Pharmaceutical.
CrownBio will leverage Jiangsu Qyun's expertise to support the Investigational New Drug Application (IND) and further clinical development of CrownBio's 10B10 antibody.
Qiu Jiwan CEO of Jiangsu Qyun Bio-Pharmaceuticals, said:
“CrownBio is the ideal partner to progress candidate compounds to IND and clinical development, thanks to their in vivo pharmacology expertise and our experience in antibody engineering, cell line construction and GMP production management, quality control, clinical research, and regulatory affairs.”
10B10
10B10 is a humanised anti-CTLA-4 antibody with higher binding affinity and in vitroT cell stimulation than ipilimumab, the first immune checkpoint blockade antibody targeting CTLA-4 to receive FDA approval for the treatment of melanoma.
The two antibodies have equivalent activity in T cell activation and tumour growth suppression but a different binding epitope and pharmacokinetic profile.
The goal of the collaboration between CrownBio and Jiangsu Qyun Bio-Pharmaceutical is to develop a less toxic CTLA-4 antibody and better combination strategies to overcome the immunological adverse effects due to T cell activation and proliferation observed in a minority of patients treated with anti-CTLA-4 immunotherapies.