Archive for the ‘antibodies’ Category
May
08
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Sutro Biopharma has reeled in more capital to back work on next-generation protein drugs. Skyline Ventures led the second $16.5 million closing of the San Francisco-based startup's Series C round, which included backing from Amgen Ventures, Lilly Ventures, Alta Partners and SV Life Sciences.
The VC units of Amgen ($AMGN) and Lilly ($LLY) joined Alta and SV in the first $20 million closing of the $36.5 million third-round financing in November 2010. Sutro, founded in 2003, says it has landed almost $60 million from investors, and the company is among of bevy of biotech startups benefitting from pharma companies' growing role the venture game.
Sutro is working on antibody-drug conjugates and bi-specific antibodies with the company's protein drug platform. Last year the company landed a research pact with Pfizer ($PFE), agreeing to work on peptide-based drugs for the drug giant. Sutro aims to land more collaboration deals with biopharma partners as well as pursue its own drug programs, according to the company's release.
"Although we generally remain cautious, especially when investing in earlier stage companies, we see the tremendous potential for antibody drug conjugates and bispecific antibodies for drug development, particularly in cancer therapy," Skyline partner Leon Chen said in a statement. "We believe that Sutro's biochemical protein synthesis platform provides a unique opportunity to rapidly identify and develop next generation therapeutics that can be manufactured utilizing the same platform in accordance with current good manufacturing practices."
- here's the release
Related Articles:
Pfizer inks peptide deal with Sutro
Sutro raises $36.5M Series C for protein drug work
Apr
19
Posted under
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Fresh on the heels of a $14 million venture round, Adimab has stepped up with another big-name partnership deal to add to its roster of antibody pacts. Gilead Sciences--in the news today with some stellar hep C data--has turned to Adimab to work on antibodies for two undisclosed targets.
Gilead ($GILD) joins a client roster that includes many of the industry's top names, including: Biogen Idec ($BIIB), Eli Lilly ($LLY), Human Genome Sciences ($HGSI), Novo Nordisk ($NVO), Pfizer ($PFE), and Roche ($RHHBY). And Adimab today notes technical milestones achieved with Novartis ($NVS), Merck ($MRK), Merrimack ($MACK), and Genentech along with a separate pact to get to work on bi-specific antibodies.
As usual in these cases, Adimab didn't have any dollar terms to offer. The biotech is stingy with most of its financial details, often neglecting to disclose deals with partners that don't have a global rep. But it's not in the least bit shy about claiming a cutting-edge role in the world of antibody development.
"We are now expanding our platform into other aspects of antibody discovery, including bi-specific and multi-specific formats," says CEO Tillman Gerngross. "Further, Adimab's significant investment in cell-based selections is starting to pay off and we have begun deploying those capabilities in ongoing customer campaigns with considerable success."
Adimab--a 2010 Fierce 15 company--has been growing fast in the past three years. It's moving into a 21,500-square-foot lab in Lebanon, NH, with financial support from Google Ventures, Polaris and SV Life Sciences. And its workforce has grown to 67, heading to about 75 at the end of this year.
- here's the press release
Special Report: Adimab - 2010 Fierce 15
Related Articles:
Google contributes to $14M round for fast-growing Adimab
Adimab adds Novo, Biogen Idec to roster of antibody partners
Apr
16
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Samsung BioLogics is moving fast with some ambitious plans to start marketing biosmilars at a deep discount while striking more development deals like the one it has with Biogen Idec ($BIIB) and ramping up its own work on novel biologics. And it's betting that its global rep in the electronics market and construction industry will help make the conglomerate a leading contender in the biopharma business.
Samsung, better known for flat screen TV sets than therapeutics, tells the Financial Times that it will put the finishing touches to its manufacturing site outside of Seoul by June, with plans to have global regulatory sanctions in place by the end of this year. That would set the stage for Samsung and its partner Biogen Idec to have a slate of biosimilars ready to market in 2015, and it plans to offer generic antibodies at half the current price they're available.
"Biopharmaceutical companies are good for sales, and biotech companies for innovation, but neither is good for manufacturing," Tae-Han Kim, the president of Samsung BioLogics, tells the Financial Times. "It is in Samsung's DNA to produce products at low prices while meeting legal and industry requirements. The price of monoclonal antibodies is very expensive and not affordable to all patients. That is a heavy burden on governments and [healthcare] payers."
The article doesn't make clear exactly where Samsung will offer deep discounts. But for the U.S. market, analysts have been projecting far more modest discounts of about 10% to 20%. A 50% discount would represent a much greater challenge to drugmakers.
The FT also just drops word of Samsung's plans to develop new therapies at the end of the story, with no explanation of what it plans to focus on.
- here's the article from the Financial Times
Related Articles:
Biogen Idec signs up with Samsung on $300 million biosimilars venture
Multinationals eager to jump into the multibillion-dollar biosimilar business
Apr
12
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GlaxoSmithKline ($GSK) has turned to Japan's Chiome Bioscience to help hunt up new antibodies to fight cancer. GSK plans to start with a pilot program to test Chiome's antibody platform. Chiome, which boasts some fast turnaround times, has also inked deals with Five Prime Therapeutics and OncoMed Pharmaceuticals. No financial details were discussed. Story