WOBURN, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Abpro, an integrated life science company at the forefront of synthetic biology, today announced co-development agreements with Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH), two of the country’s leading academic medical centers. By leveraging Abpro’s DiversImmune™ platform, Abpro will co-develop multiple monoclonal antibodies with MGH for use in its oncology and inflammation and autoimmunity research programs and with BWH for its fibrosis research, according to these independent and separate agreements.
“These co-development agreements with Mass General and BWH provide an opportunity to advance novel therapeutics in collaboration with two of the top academic research centers in the country,” said Ian Chan, CEO of Abpro. “We are thrilled to work with leading scientists in the oncology and inflammation and autoimmunity space to demonstrate Abpro’s proprietary platform and its proven ability against traditionally difficult targets for antibodies, which offers significant potential to co-develop innovative therapies.”
With MGH, Abpro will collaborate with John H. Stone, MD, MPH, Director of Clinical Rheumatology and Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, and Shiv Pillai, MD, PhD, Associate Geneticist, Center for Cancer Research and Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, for both fibrosis and oncology. Dr. Stone’s work focuses on vasculitis, a group of inflammatory diseases that target blood vessels. His team has identified a novel T lymphocyte that may drive the intractable condition of fibrosis across an array of human diseases. At the Pillai Lab, one of the pathways being studied suggests new approaches for the treatment of autoimmune disorders. Dr. Pillai and his colleagues have discovered novel ways to strengthen immune responses and enhance helper T cell memory that provides hope for developing more effective personalized immune-system based treatments for cancer.
“I look forward to leveraging Abpro’s platform to develop antibodies for targets that traditionally, have been difficult to target,” said Dr. Shiv Pillai, who also is a member of Abpro’s Scientific Advisory Board. “I have been familiar with Abpro’s unique approach, and we are looking forward to working with it in our lab.”
With BWH, Abpro will work with Michael B. Brenner, MD, Theodore B. Bayles Professor of Medicine Chief, Division of Rheumatology, Immunology and Allergy, Brigham and Women's Hospital, in the areas of inflammation and autoimmunity. In addition to the full development of basic research in areas relevant to rheumatic and allergic diseases, translational research and clinical research at the population level and patient therapeutics, the division has also organized and integrated much of its research to provide interdisciplinary progress in several key human diseases.
According to these co-development agreements, MGH and BWH will work with Abpro towards the development of new therapeutic antibodies using Abpro’s Diversimmune platform, which is designed to generate antibodies with high sensitivity and specificity for advancing human health.
Abpro’s products and discovery services are used by leading academic labs and companies around the world for life science research purposes, such as therapeutics, diagnostics and research products. Abpro has formed multiple partnerships around novel biomolecules with leading biotechnology and international pharmaceutical companies including Amgen, Eli Lilly, Genzyme, MedImmune, Merck, Novartis, Pfizer, and others. In addition, Abpro has collaborated with several academic research centers, including Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford University.
About Abpro
Abpro is the pioneer of industrial biochemistry.
Through its core technology, the DiversImmuneTM platform,
Abpro leverages synthetic biology and immunology to accelerate antibody
discovery and development in the life sciences industry. The company
creates novel bio-molecules to improve human and animal health by
developing products in the research, diagnostic and therapeutic markets.
For more information, visit www.abpro.com.
