Geneva, Switzerland and Newark, California (Press Release) – Selexis SA and Teneobio, Inc. announced today that they have signed three commercial license agree­ments (CLAs) for the devel­op­ment of Teneobio’s Human Heavy-Chain Antibodies (UniAbs™), a new class of multi-specific biologics, for the treat­ment of multiple myeloma, lym­phoma and prostate cancer. The CLAs ex­pand the com­pa­nies’ pre­vi­ously estab­lish­ed rela­tion­ship, in­clud­ing a service agree­ment signed be­tween Teneobio and Selexis in De­cem­ber 2018.

Through each new CLA, Selexis will provide Teneobio with access to high per­for­mance research cell banks (RCBs) devel­oped using the Selexis SUREtechnology Platform™, with each expressing a unique UniAb prod­uct can­di­date.

“Today, new generations of biologically engi­neered anti­body ther­a­pies are reaching the clinic with Selexis tech­nolo­gies that are specifically engi­neered to address the chal­lenges of achieving high ex­pres­sion levels for and quality thresholds of bi- and multi-specific anti­bodies. Teneobio’s multi-specific UniAbs rep­re­sent an exciting oppor­tu­ni­ty to leverage our capabilities,” said Yemi Onakunle, PhD, MBA, Selexis senior vice pres­i­dent, licensing and business devel­op­ment. “We’re pleased that the SUREtechnology Platform has pos­i­tively impacted the trajectory of Teneobio’s pipe­line and we look for­ward to work­ing with their team to bring these exciting new on­col­ogy biologics to the clinic.”

Bi- and multi-specific anti­bodies rep­re­sent one of the fastest-growing classes of molecules offering new thera­peutic perspectives. A bi/multi-specific anti­body is a recombinant, engi­neered protein that can simultaneously bind to two or more dif­fer­en­t types of an­ti­gens, often on two or more dif­fer­en­t types of cells. For cancer ther­a­pies, one-half of a bispecific recog­nizes an an­ti­gen on an immune cell, typically a T-cell, and the other half recog­nizes an an­ti­gen on the tumor. By binding both an­ti­gens simultaneously, a bispecific brings T-cells in close proximity to tumor cells where they can kill them.

“Since we began work­ing with Selexis two years ago, we’ve seen firsthand the benefits of its cell line ex­pres­sion tech­nolo­gies – high-yield, speed, stability, flexibility and applicability for use with our dif­fer­en­ti­ated, multi-specific plat­form – all of which are essential for bringing our inno­va­tive UniAbs to patients,” said Omid Vafa, PhD, MBA, chief business officer at Teneobio, Inc. “We look for­ward to continuing our im­por­tant work together.”

Selexis’ modular SUREtechnology Platform facilitates the rapid, stable, and cost-effective pro­duc­tion of virtually any recombinant protein and provides seamless integration of the biologics devel­op­ment con­tin­uum, spanning discovery to com­mer­cial­iza­tion.

About Selexis SA

Selexis SA, a JSR Life Sciences Com­pany, is the global leader in cell line devel­op­ment with best-in-class modular tech­nology and highly specialized solu­tions that enable the life sciences industry to rapidly discover, develop and com­mer­cial­ize inno­va­tive med­i­cines and vaccines. Our global partners are uti­liz­ing Selexis tech­nolo­gies to ad­vance more than 125 drug prod­ucts in clin­i­cal devel­op­ment and the manu­fac­ture of six commercial prod­ucts. As part of a com­pre­hen­sive drug devel­op­ment process, the Com­pany’s tech­nolo­gies shorten devel­op­ment timelines and reduce manu­fac­tur­ing risks. More in­for­ma­tion is avail­able at www.selexis.com.

About Teneobio, Inc.

Teneobio, Inc. is a clin­i­cal stage bio­technology com­pany devel­op­ing a new class of biologics, Human Heavy-Chain Antibodies (UniAbs™), for the treat­ments of cancer, autoimmunity, and infectious dis­eases. Teneobio’s discovery plat­form, TeneoSeek, com­prises genetically engi­neered animals (UniRat® and OmniFlic®), next-generation sequencing, bioinformatics and high-throughput vector assembly tech­nolo­gies. TeneoSeek rapidly identifies large numbers of unique binding molecules specific for thera­peutic targets of interest. Versatile anti­body variable domains (UniDabs™) derived from UniAbs™ can be assembled into multi-specific and multivalent thera­peutic proteins, surpassing limitations of con­ven­tional anti­body thera­peutics. Teneobio’s “plug-and-play” T-cell engaging plat­form in­cludes a diverse set of anti-CD3 anti­bodies for thera­peutics with optimal efficacy and reduced toxicity. The com­pany has received funding from institutional in­vestors, in­clud­ing Lightspeed Venture Partners and Sutter Hill Ventures. Teneobio partners in­clude AbbVie, Janssen, GSK and Poseida. For more in­for­ma­tion, please visit www.teneobio.com.

Source: Selexis and Teneobio.