Stephen L. Mayo, Ph.D., Co-Founder of Xencor, Elected to the National Academy of Sciences.Business Editors/Health/Medical Writers MONROVIA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 27, 2004 Stephen L. Mayo, Ph.D., an associate investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute Howard Hughes Medical Institute, (HHMI), nonprofit medical research organization founded in 1953 by Howard Hughes and largly funded from proceeds of the 1984–85 sale of Hughes Aircraft. Headquartered in Chevy Chase, Md. , and professor of biology and chemistry, California Institute of Technology California Institute of Technology, at Pasadena, Calif.; originally for men, became coeducational in 1970; founded 1891 as Throop Polytechnic Institute; called Throop College of Technology, 1913–20. , was one of 72 scientists elected to The National Academy of Sciences on Tuesday, April 20. Dr. Mayo is a co-founder of Xencor and also chairs the Scientific Advisory Board at Xencor. Steve Mayo and one of his graduate students, Bassil Dahiyat, established Xencor in 1997. The privately held company privately held company A firm whose shares are held within a relatively small circle of owners and are not traded publicly. focuses on the discovery and development of novel protein therapeutics using the computational protein design approach developed by Drs. Mayo and Dahiyat. "Election to membership in the Academy is one of the highest honors that can be accorded a US scientist and Xencor is extremely pleased that the NAS (1) See network access server. (2) (Network Attached Storage) A specialized file server that connects to the network. A NAS device contains a slimmed-down operating system and a file system and processes only I/O requests by supporting the popular has recognized Steve's pioneering work in the area of protein design," said Xencor's President and 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. , Harry Stylli. "I join with Harry and everyone at Xencor in congratulating Steve on his election to the NAS. This is a significant achievement for Steve and a proud moment for Xencor," said Bassil Dahiyat, CSO at Xencor. The National Academy of Sciences is a private organization of scientists and engineers dedicated to the furtherance of science and its use for the general welfare. It was established in 1863 by a congressional act of incorporation, signed by Abraham Lincoln, which calls on the Academy to act as an official adviser to the federal government, upon request, in any matter of science or technology. About XmAb(TM) Technology Xencor is designing the constant Fc domains of monoclonal antibodies using PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) A handheld computer for managing contacts, appointments and tasks. It typically includes a name and address database, calendar, to-do list and note taker, which are the functions in a personal information manager (see PIM). technology to improve their biochemical and cell biological characteristics, an approach applicable to antibodies against any target antigens. The XmAb platform improves numerous properties of antibodies including enhanced antibody mediated tumor cell killing, improvement of structural stability and reduced immunogenicity immunogenicity /im·mu·no·ge·nic·i·ty/ (-je-nis´it-e) the property enabling a substance to provoke an immune response, or the degree to which a substance possesses this property. . The Company has created a suite of Fc variants with therapeutic properties such as improved tumor cell killing that can be inserted into any antibody. About Dominant Negative Cytokine Modulators Xencor has created inhibitors of Tumor Necrosis Factor tumor necrosis factor n. Abbr. TNF A protein that is produced in the presence of an endotoxin, especially by monocytes and macrophages, is able to attack and destroy tumor cells, and exacerbates chronic inflammatory diseases. (TNF TNF abbr. tumor necrosis factor TNF, n an abbreviation for tumor necrosis f ), a key target in arthritis and other rheumatic disorders that have a unique and proprietary Dominant Negative (DN) mechanism of action, distinct from existing soluble receptor and neutralizing antibody approaches. The DN mechanism enables a broad new opportunity to compete in the rich TNF superfamily superfamily /su·per·fam·i·ly/ (soo´per-fam?i-le) 1. a taxonomic category between an order and a family. 2. of drug targets for autoimmune disease and cancer, which includes BAFF/BLyS, CD40L, RANKL RANKL Receptor Activator of NF-B Ligand and OX40L. DN molecules offer receptor and ligand specificity, high stability, ease of production, and a distinct intellectual property position. About Protein Design Automation(R) (PDA(R)) technology PDA(R) technology combines high performance computing with sensitive biochemical assays to create broader protein diversity with far greater control than other optimization technologies, such as directed evolution and phage display. It uses the information embedded in protein structure to optimize protein activity, binding affinity and specificity, stability, expression level, and potency. This process also creates new intellectual property, continually broadening Xencor's patent portfolio by generating sets of novel protein sequences that are distinct from naturally occurring proteins. About Xencor Xencor is a pre-clinical stage company that discovers and develops protein therapeutics using its proprietary rational protein design platform. Xencor's platform applies high performance computing and advanced molecular biology to rapidly discover drug candidates with novel mechanisms and improved safety and efficacy. Xencor is a privately held biopharmaceutical company located in Monrovia, CA. Additional information is available at www.xencor.com. |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion