Synthon contracts Antitope for ADC testing
The Antitope EpiScreen platform consists of pooled peripheral mononuclear blood cells (PMBCs) derived from multiple donors which, when exposed to drug candidates, exhibit a measurable immune response.
The aim of the deal is to determine the immunogenicity of the antibody part of the ADCs according to Synthon CSO, Marco Timmers, who said the tech will “reduce the risk that Synthon's antibody based development candidates will induce immunogenic responses.”
Synthon’s ADC programme – which is based the manufacturing facility it opened in Nijmegen, the Netherlands in 2013 – is focused on breast cancer tumours that over-express the protein marker HER2.
The collaboration follows weeks after Antitope was called in to develop a manufacturing cell line for a novel dendritic-cell-targeting vaccine for the treatment of head and neck and cervical cancer being developed by the Baylor Institute for Immunology Research (BIIR).
It also follows a string of biopharmaceutical collaborations agreed by Antitope’s parent company Abzena, including the deal signed by its other subsidiary Polytherics and developer Macrogenics in April.
