Cambridge Antibody Technology and AMRAD Corporation Ltd. Form Alliance for Human Monoclonal Antibody Co-Development
Cambridge Antibody Technology (Nasdaq: CATG; LSE: CAT) and AMRAD Corporation Limited (ASX: AML) today announce a product development collaboration committed to the joint discovery and development of human antibody-based therapeutics that neutralize the receptor for granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF Receptor). Under the terms of the agreement, the two companies will fund all development jointly through to completion of Phase II proof-of-concept studies. CAT then has primary responsibility for further development and commercialization. AMRAD has the option to receive milestone and royalty payments from CAT or to participate jointly with CAT in further development and commercialization.
AMRAD will contribute its patent estate, intellectual property and know-how pertaining to the therapeutic target, pre-clinical and development capabilities to the collaboration, and CAT will contribute its proprietary human antibody phage display technology, high-throughput functional screening, pre-clinical, manufacturing and development capabilities.
Recent studies have indicated that the cytokine GM-CSF plays a central role in the development of rheumatoid arthritis. When GM-CSF binds to its receptor, it induces the pro-inflammatory cascade underlying the pathogenesis of this disease. There is thus a sound rationale for neutralizing the interaction between GM-CSF and its receptor as a means of intervening in inflammatory disease processes. AMRAD has been granted patents to the GM-CSF receptor target in Europe, USA and Australia, and patents are pending in Canada and Japan.
Dr. David Chiswell, Chief Executive Officer of CAT, commented, ``We are extremely pleased to be entering this relationship with AMRAD to develop novel strategies for treating inflammatory disease. It underscores CAT's commitment both to share in the risks and rewards of antibody product development and to build a drug pipeline serving areas of significant medical need. CAT and AMRAD are committed to a close collaboration to capture the significant long-term value in novel human proteins to treat human disease.''
Dr. Sandra Webb, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of AMRAD, added, ``The number of antibodies which have been identified and are presently in development using CAT technology provides AMRAD with great confidence that the collaboration we have initiated with CAT will deliver vitally important new medicines and great commercial results.''
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