Innate Pharma, Enzo Biochem Partner Up For Antibody Drug Design
By Cyndi Root
Enzo Biochem announced in a press release that it has partnered with Innate Pharma S.A. on antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) design. The two companies worked together, prior to the agreement, on Enzo’s ProteoStat Aggregation Assay and ProteoStat Thermal Shift Assay for ADC discovery and validated those systems for use with Innate Pharma’s new monoclonal antibodies. The initial focus is the ProteoStat Dye for early phase drug design.
Jerome Tiollier, EVP and Chief Development Officer at Innate Pharma, said, “Their novel ProteoStat dye for detection of protein aggregates provides a new screening technology for enhanced lead optimization.”
Barry Weiner, President of Enzo, said, “We have seen a proliferation of drug candidates in the cancer area, and have positioned Enzo to support both drug design efforts as well as with companion diagnostic development.”
Antibody Drug Conjugates
Antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) are monoclonal antibodies that deliver drugs to the antigen target. ADC development requires potent cytotoxic drugs and antibodies that go unnoticed until drug delivery opportunities. This class of agents shows promise and at least 30 ADCs are in development by multiple drug companies. Innate Pharma has been producing antibodies for some time, positioning them to take advantage of ADCs. The company has partnered up with Enzo to use the company’s assays to determine ADC stability in liquid form.
Enzo will provide its ProteoStat Aggregation Assay, ProteoStat Thermal Shift Assay, and ProteoStat dye for research. In their preliminary work prior to the formal partnership arrangement, the two companies found that the greater the number of anti-mitotic and anti-tumor agent units attached to the monoclonal antibody, and the more lipophilic the linker, the higher the aggregation propensity. The ProteoStat dye assisted the aggregation calculation, consistently predicting the propensity for aggregation. Additionally, the dye predicted physical and chemical stability of the conjugates, and helped improve the scale-up of viable candidates.
About Enzo Biochem
Enzo Biochem is headquartered in Farmingdale, NY. The company focuses on molecular diagnostics for early stage discovery and clinical use. Enzo has patent protection on several products.
About Innate Pharma
Innate Pharma is a French biopharmaceutical company that focuses on new monoclonal antibodies. The company began after immunity cells were described in the late 1990’s. Its drug candidates have immune-stimulating properties for cancer and immune-blocking properties in inflammatory conditions.