Pivotal BioSciences and ProteomTech Announce Collaboration.Business Editors/Health/Medical Writers BIOWIRE2K LOS ANGELES Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. & EMERYVILLE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 5, 2004 Pivotal BioSciences, Inc., a privately-held Los Angeles-based biotechnology company, and ProteomTech, Inc., a privately-held Emeryville-based company, today announced their collaboration for the development of PB1, Pivotal's mutant IL-2 cancer therapeutic. PB1 is an innovative low toxicity analog of interleukin-2, an important cytokine Cytokine Any of a group of soluble proteins that are released by a cell to send messages which are delivered to the same cell (autocrine), an adjacent cell (paracrine), or a distant cell (endocrine). already used in cancer immunotherapy Cancer immunotherapy is the use of the immune system to reject cancer. The main premise is stimulating the patient's immune system to attack the malignant tumor cells that are responsible for the disease. . Pivotal's version is modified to significantly improve the clinical utility of the FDA-approved version by decreasing toxicity without reducing efficacy. PB1 has demonstrated in animal studies that it solves the problem of vascular permeability Vascular permeability characterizes the capacity of a blood vessel wall to pass through small molecules (ions, water, nutrients) or even whole cells (lymphocytes on their way to the site of inflammation). Blood vessel walls are lined by a single layer of endothelial cells. , a common problem associated with wild-type IL-2 toxicity. Pivotal's improved version is therefore expected to potentially allow larger, more therapeutic dosages to be delivered to patients without the life-threatening side effects Side effects Effects of a proposed project on other parts of the firm. present in this FDA-approved therapy for renal cancer and melanoma melanoma: see skin cancer. melanoma Dark-coloured malignant tumour of skin cells that produce the protective skin-darkening pigment melanin. . Pivotal acquired the exclusive worldwide rights to PB1 from the University of Southern California The U.S. News & World Report ranked USC 27th among all universities in the United States in its 2008 ranking of "America's Best Colleges", also designating it as one of the "most selective universities" for admitting 8,634 of the almost 34,000 who applied for freshman admission , where it was discovered in the laboratory of Alan Epstein, M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Pathology at USC's Keck v. i. 1. To heave or to retch, as in an effort to vomit. [ imp. & p. p. os> r>; p. pr. & vb. n. os> n. 1. An effort to vomit; queasiness. School of Medicine. ProteomTech, Inc. specializes in protein refolding from inclusion bodies for candidates and targets. ProteomTech will assist Pivotal with protein expression in E.coli and the early development of processes that lead to competitive production costs. ProteomTech has been rapidly expanding the range of proteins that can be correctly refolded using its proprietary Pt-Fold technology, and has built a customer base of over 30 companies, universities and research institutes. "We are very happy to have this collaboration," said Dr. Henry Lin, Founder and Chief Science Officer for ProteomTech. "This is consistent with one of our business strategies which is to use our proprietary Pt-Fold technology to partner with quality pharmaceutical and biotech companies to co-develop their protein therapies." "We believe ProteomTech's technology will enable us to manufacture PB1 in E.coli, which has distinct advantages over mammalian or yeast expression systems," commented Dimitri Villard, Pivotal's Chairman. "The success of this collaboration will help us move this product forward quickly towards the clinic." About Pivotal BioSciences, Inc. Pivotal is a biotechnology company specializing in the development of innovative cancer treatments using immunotherapy and anti-angiogenesis, with technologies licensed from the University of Southern California. About ProteomTech, Inc. ProteomTech, Inc. is a company that utilizes the technology developed over a 20 year period by its founder for the refolding or re-naturing of proteins from denatured de·na·ture tr.v. de·na·tured, de·na·tur·ing, de·na·tures 1. To change the nature or natural qualities of. 2. proteins. ProteomTech is using the Pt-Fold technology to independently develop drug candidates and toward the development of automated systems for protein refolding. For more information on Pivotal BioSciences, Inc. contact Dimitri Villard, Chairman at 310-289-7111 ext 201 or Villard@pivotalbiosciences.com. Website: www.pivotalbiosciences.com. For more information on ProteomTech, Inc. contact David Hagebush at 510-597-9130 or Hagebush@proteomtech-inc.com. Website: www.proteomtech-inc.com. |
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