SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Theraclone Sciences, Inc., a therapeutic antibody discovery and development company, announced today that it has entered into an agreement with Gilead Sciences, Inc., under which Gilead received an exclusive license to develop and commercialize products incorporating Theraclone’s broadly neutralizing HIV-antibodies for therapeutic applications in HIV. These broadly neutralizing antibodies (bNAbs) were discovered in collaboration with the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) and The Scripps Research Institute using Theraclone’s proprietary I-STAR™ technology. The I-STAR technology allows for the rapid testing of tens of thousands of fully human antibodies to find those with exceptional biological functions and activities.
“Through our innovative I-STAR technology, we are able to uncover unique antibodies that have the capacity to neutralize viruses, such as HIV, that are known to mutate and evade current therapies,” said Clifford J. Stocks, Chief Executive Officer of Theraclone. “We look forward to collaborating with Gilead on the development of new therapies to address HIV infection.”
Under the terms of the agreement, Theraclone received an upfront payment and is eligible to receive additional payments based upon achievement of certain development and commercialization milestones.
ABOUT THERACLONE SCIENCES
Theraclone is a biopharmaceutical
company focused on the discovery and development of novel, monoclonal
antibody therapeutics for diseases that are devastating for patients and
their families and which are a significant threat to human health.
Theraclone leverages its proprietary antibody discovery technology,
I-STARTM (In-Situ Therapeutic Antibody Rescue), to identify
rare fully human antibodies, from immunologically relevant human
subjects, that may be developed into antibody product candidates that
are potentially safer and more effective than current therapies, or that
address an unmet need. With a primary focus on cancer and infectious
disease, Theraclone has a portfolio of innovative antibody programs at
preclinical and clinical development stage targeting serious medical
conditions with a significant unmet medical need including:
- Triple negative and endocrine treatment resistant HER-2 negative breast cancer
- Infectious disease associated cancers
- Immune profiling of cancer patients treated with immunomodulators, checkpoint inhibitors or cancer vaccines
- Gram-negative multidrug resistant bacteria
- TCN-032 - a recombinant fully human monoclonal antibody for the treatment of patients hospitalized with serious influenza that has shown statistically significant reduction in viral load and improvement of clinical symptom scores in a Phase 2a viral challenge model
Theraclone is a privately held company having antibody discovery collaborations with Pfizer, Zenyaku Kogyo and IAVI, and venture investment from ARCH Venture Partners, Canaan Partners, Healthcare Ventures, MPM Capital, Amgen Ventures, Versant Ventures and Alexandria Real Estate Equities. For additional information, please visit www.theraclone-sciences.com.
