ROCHE/GLYCART TO DISCOVER NEW THERAPEUTIC ANTIBODIES.Roche and GLYCART have signed an agreement to discover next-generation therapeutic antibodies using GlycoMAbTM technology. Roche will have the option to develop and market worldwide all antibodies generated by GLYCART from an undisclosed product candidate. GLYCART will receive an upfront fee, research funding Research funding is a term generally covering any funding for scientific research, in the areas of both "hard" science and technology and social science. The term often connotes funding obtained through a competitive process, in which potential research projects are evaluated and , milestone payments and royalties on product sales. "We have rapidly generated GlycoMAbTM versions of Roche's antibody with dramatically enhanced potency, and we are pleased that after this initial technology evaluation, Roche has decided to license GlycoMAbTM," said Pablo Umana, PhD, CSO (Chief Security Officer) The person in charge of all staff members who are responsible for promulgating, enforcing and administering security policies for all systems within an enterprise or division. of GLYCART. Joel Jean-Mairet, PhD, CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. of GLYCART, added, "The significance of bringing our technology to a global antibody player such as Roche cannot be underestimated. Clearly, this collaboration will be invaluable to GLYCART in continuing to forge partnerships with the leading antibody companies." "In the first quarter of this year, 49 percent of Roche's sales came from biotechnology products," explained Peter Hug, Roche's Global Head of Pharma Partnering. "To maintain and expand our leadership in the antibody market, and in disease areas such as oncology, Roche will continue to partner with excellent antibody companies such as GLYCART." About GLYCART GLYCART is a privately held Swiss biotechnology company focussed on the development and commercialization of a new generation of antibody products based on its proprietary GlycoMAbTM technology. GLYCART is developing its own GlycoMAbTM-based antibody portfolio by in-licensing and acquiring antibodies at early stages of development and applying GlycoMAbTM to them. GLYCART's initial focus will be next-generation antibody therapeutics against well-characterized and clinically validated targets. In such partnership scenarios, GLYCART is conducting preclinical and early clinical development studies, while actively seeking pharmaceutical and biotech partners to complete clinical development and commercialization. Taking advantage of its broad technology platform beyond GlycoMAbTM into antibody humanization Humanization Fusing the constant and variable framework region of one or more human immunoglobulins with the binding region of an animal immunoglobulin, done to reduce human reaction against the fusion antibody. Mentioned in: Alemtuzumab , expression and screening, GLYCART is establishing collaborations and partnerships with biotech and pharmaceutical companies to enhance the efficacy and utility of their antibody drug candidates. GLYCART was founded in 2000 as a spin-off from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology may refer to one of two institutes of higher education in Switzerland:
n. Variant of edh. ) at Zurich, and is located in Zurich-Schlieren. For more information, visit http://www.glycart.com. About GlycoMAb: GlycoMAb is a fully developed technology platform that efficiently increases the specific biological activity of therapeutic monoclonal antibodies This is a list of monoclonal antibodies, antibodies which are clones of a single parent cell. When used as medications, the generic names end in -mab (see "Nomenclature of monoclonal antibodies"). for target cell ablation. It is based on an active modulation of antibody glycosylation during production leading to antibody products with increased ADCC ADCC antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity. ADCC antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity. (antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity cytotoxicity /cy·to·tox·ic·i·ty/ (si?to-tok-sis´i-te) the degree to which an agent possesses a specific destructive action on certain cells or the possession of such action. ). A high relevance for therapeutic efficacy, industrial scale applicability, broad patent protection and an extensive body of proof (including external validation) are the distinct hallmarks of this technology. About Roche as a Partner Roche is a valued partner to over 50 companies worldwide. During 2003, Roche entered into 20 alliances in discovery, early research and technology, 11 of which extended or expanded existing relationships. Roche's alliance strategy is to enable our partners to grow through a flexible and collaborative approach. About Roche Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Roche is one of the world's leading innovation-driven healthcare groups. Its core businesses are pharmaceuticals and diagnostics. As a supplier of products and services for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of disease, the Group contributes on a broad range of fronts to improving people's health and quality of life. Roche is number one in the global diagnostics market, the leading supplier of pharmaceuticals for cancer and transplantation and a market leader in virology virology, study of viruses and their role in disease. Many viruses, such as animal RNA viruses and viruses that infect bacteria, or bacteriophages, have become useful laboratory tools in genetic studies and in work on the cellular metabolic control of gene expression . In 2003 prescription drug prescription drug Prescription medication Pharmacology An FDA-approved drug which must, by federal law or regulation, be dispensed only pursuant to a prescription–eg, finished dose form and active ingredients subject to the provisos of the Federal Food, Drug, sales by the Pharmaceuticals Division totalled 19.8 billion Swiss francs, while the Diagnostics Division posted sales of 7.4 billion Swiss francs. Roche employs roughly 65,000 people in 150 countries and has alliances and R&D agreements with numerous partners, including majority ownership interests in Genentech and Chugai. For more information, visit http://www.roche.com. |
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