Basel, Switzerland/ La Jolla, CA, 19 March 2014 – BioWa, Inc. and Lonza today announced that they have entered into a licensing agreement with arGEN-X BV, a clinical-stage human therapeutic antibody company. arGEN-X has licensed the companies’ POTELLIGENT® CHOK1SV Cell Line Technology for use in the development of ARGX-110, a proprietary antibody in its pipeline.
POTELLIGENT® CHOK1SV is a host cell line for manufacturing recombinant antibodies that combines the power of BioWa’s engineered glycosylation POTELLIGENT® Technology with the advantages of Lonza’s industry-leading GS Gene Expression System™. The GS System™ includes Lonza’s pre-eminent host cell line, CHOK1SV. POTELLIGENT® Technology is designed to improve the potency and efficacy of therapeutic antibodies by enhancing antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC), one of the major mechanisms of therapeutic antibodies.
This agreement follows a licensing agreement between arGEN-X and BioWa, initiated in 2010, to apply BioWa’s POTELLIGENT® Technology to therapeutic antibodies discovered by arGEN-X.
“The POTELLIGENT® Technology has become a global standard over the last decade for the enhancement of ADCC in therapeutic antibody development, as evidenced by our parent company, Kyowa Hakko Kirin Co., Ltd. and our licensed partners,” said Yasunori Yamaguchi Ph.D., President and CEO of BioWa. “We are very pleased to provide additional value to arGEN-X’s therapeutic pipeline with this extended partnership.”
The POTELLIGENT® CHOK1SV Cell Line retains the features of a high-producing cell line (robust, high-yielding and scalable) with the advantage of a proven bioprocess platform for the CHOK1SV Cell Line. Antibodies produced by this cell line exhibit enhanced ADCC and can exert potent cytotoxic effects even when their target antigen is expressed at low levels. In addition, they are active in whole blood and retain all other desirable features of non-glycoengineered antibodies.
“The GS System™ and the CHOK1SV Cell Line have proven to be key aspects of a successful mammalian expression platform. We are proud to be able to support arGEN-X in developing ARGX-110 through the granting of this license,” said Karen Fallen, VP Head of Licensing, Lonza Custom Development Services.
ARGX-110 is a first-in-class monoclonal antibody targeting CD70 positive tumors with three distinct modes of action: potent tumor cell depletion through enhanced ADCC and deprivation of both a key stimulation signal and immune privilege.
The POTELLIGENT® CHOK1SV Cell Line is available under a license agreement with Lonza and BioWa, For more information on accessing the POTELLIGENT® CHOK1SV Technology, please contact GSLonza@lonza.com or complete BioWa’s Licensing Contact Form at https://www.kyowa-kirin.com/biowa/contact_us/index.html.