Domantis and Argenta Discovery to co-develop domain antibody products to treat respiratory disease - partnership combines domain antibodies with expertise in COPD and other lung diseases
Domantis, a domain antibody therapeutics company, and Argenta Discovery, a respiratory/inflammation drug development company, have entered into an agreement to co-develop fully human domain antibody (dAbs) therapeutics for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and other respiratory diseases.
Under the terms of the deal, fully human domain antibodies (dAbs) identified in certain of Domantis's proprietary discovery programmes will be co-developed by the two companies to yield innovative therapies which can be delivered to the lung via inhalation.
The lead dAbs will begin pre-clinical testing in Argenta models immediately, with clinical development expected to begin in 2006.
Both groups will share revenues derived from such products.
"The progressive decline of lung function experienced by COPD patients is caused by inflammation and at present there are no marketed therapies which slow, halt or reverse the disease itself", said Christopher Ashton, CEO of Argenta.
"There is a critical need for innovative approaches which address the cause (ie inflammation), rather than merely the symptoms of COPD.
"This collaboration aims to address that need and deliver effective therapies which significantly improve the quality of life of COPD patients".
"This deal brings together an ideal combination of novel technologies, extensive respiratory disease experience and leading drug development capabilities' commented Robert Connelly, Domantis's chief executive officer.
"dAbs represent a new approach to respiratory disease and unlike other antibodies they are well suited to pulmonary delivery via inhalation.
"Argenta has a leading technology position in and understanding of COPD and unique capabilities in terms of testing and developing COPD drugs.
"Together we believe we can make a difference to this significant unmet need.
"The fact that a company with Argenta's extensive experience and leading capabilities in COPD drug discovery and development has chosen dAbs as the antibody approach to this disease underlines the unique potential of dAbs to go beyond the scope of standard antibody technology".
Domain antibodies are the smallest functional binding fragments of human antibodies.
Due to their small size and unique biophysical properties, they can be formatted and formulated in ways not available to full antibodies, including inhalation routes for pulmonary delivery in the topical treatment of lung disease.
Domantis's proprietary discovery programmes are primarily focused on inflammation and cancer.
Argenta is a provider of contract drug discovery services and has over two decades of experience in respiratory research.
Through its recent acquisition of Etiologics the company has access to proprietary technologies and respiratory disease models which support the selection of the best candidates to progress into the clinic.
This extensive experience and technology base will be invaluable in the longer-term development of these drugs.
In 2001 the worldwide market for COPD therapies was valued at euro2.5 billion and this is expected to grow to euro10 billion by 2010.
It is anticipated that COPD will be the third leading cause of death worldwide by 2020 (Source: World Health Organisation estimates).
Domantis is a drug discovery company, that is leveraging its proprietary dominance in domain antibodies (dAbs) to deliver human therapies which address large, unmet medical needs including inflammation (eg asthma, Crohns Disease) cancer (eg haematological and solid tumours), and autoimmune diseases (eg rheumatoid arthritis).
In less than three years it has initiated more than a dozen proprietary therapeutic programmes, several of which should be in clinical trials by 2006.
Therapeutic antibodies are a major commercial opportunity.
Seventeen monoclonal antibodies have been approved for use to date and these are expected to generate sales exceeding $9 billion by 2006.
Fully human dAbs, the smallest binding domains of a full antibody, combine the therapeutic benefits of small molecule drugs (formulation and delivery versatility, wide therapeutic target range, low cost) with those of full human antibodies (enormous diversity, high specificity, lower toxicity).
Thus they have very broad therapeutic relevance.
The growing antibody market and the commercial potential of dAbs makes Domantis an attractive partner for the pharmaceutical industry and it has already struck deals with Peptech, Abbott Laboratories and ImClone while also attracting funding from the European Union for several therapeutic collaborations.
A series of dAb therapies derived from these collaborations should begin to enter the clinic in 2006.
Monoclonal antibodies were invented in the 1970s at the UK Medical Research Council's Laboratory of Molecular Biology (MRC-LMB), which has remained at the forefront of therapeutic antibody research since that time.
In 1989, scientists in the LMB laboratories of Sir Gregory Winter published the discovery of domain antibodies.
This discovery led to the creation of an extensive portfolio of intellectual property covering the development and use of domain antibodies derived from any species.
Domantis has exclusive licenses and assignments to these pioneering inventions for domain antibodies and extensive intellectual property covering dAb libraries, methods of discovery, compositions, and formulations of dAbs.
As a result, Domantis is the only company capable of fully exploiting the commercial therapeutic applications of dAbs.
Sir Gregory and Ian Tomlinson, world-renowned scientists from the MRC-LMB, launched Domantis in December 2000.
Sir Gregory was also a founder of Cambridge Antibody Technology (Cat).
To date Domantis has raised $54 million from investors including 3i, Gray Ghost (Baltimore, USA), Albany Ventures, MVM Limited (London, UK) and Peptech.
Domantis employs 46 staff and has laboratory facilities in Cambridge, UK and commercial offices in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
