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Drug Discovery and Development

Ymmunobio gets ownership rights to NPTXR antibodies

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YmmunobioThe biotech Ymmunobio has acquired ownership rights to neuronal pentraxin receptor (NPTXR) antibodies, which could promise in treating several gastrointestinal cancers.

Basel, Switzerland–based Ymmunobio reached an agreement with Nagoya University in Japan in 2022 to transfer rights to the antibodies. Professor Mitsuro Kanda of Nagoya University invented the antibodies.

A 2020 article published in Molecular Cancer noted NPTXR-targeting antibodies may have utility as novel diagnostic tools or treatment modalities for gastric cancer.

The company has selected the YB-800 NPTxR antibody as a candidate for development. Based on in vitro and in vivo testing, YP-800 appears to have anti-tumor activity against solid tumors, including gastro-intestinal and breast cancers.

Ymmunobio’s website notes that it has multiple generations of immune agonistic antibodies targeting Carcinoembryonic antigen-related cell adhesion molecule 1 (CEACAM1) in development. Antibodies in its pipeline include YB-200, a novel second-generation anti-human CEACAM1/5 immune agonistic antibody and a third generation anti-human CEACAM1 antibody known as YB-300. Ymmunobio says that YB-300 has a co-stimulatory effect when administered with YB-200.​

In April 2022, the company announced that it had signed a purchase agreement with LeukoCom (Essen, Germany) to obtain intellectual property related to several CEACAM antibodies, including YB-200.

It is currently developing a fourth-generation antibody

Ymmunobio Founder and CEO Katrin Rupalla stated that the ownership of NPTXR is a major advance for the company. In a press release, she noted that YB-800 targets cancer cells overexpressing NPTXR while leaving healthy tissue intact.

The company plans to start IND-enabling studies by the end of 2023.

According to Ymmunobio, some 35% of colon cancer patients have a high expression of NPTXR, while 50% of gastric cancer patients have a high expression of the antibodies.

In June 2022, Ymmunbio announced that it had entered into a collaboration agreement with Yumab GmbH, a privately-held German biotech.

Yummunbio said it would partner with Yumab to optimize its antibodies.

Earlier in January, Ymmunobio AG hired Michel Janicot as its chief development officer.

The company was founded in 2021.

Filed Under: Oncology
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About The Author

Brian Buntz

As the pharma and biotech editor at WTWH Media, Brian has almost two decades of experience in B2B media, with a focus on healthcare and technology. While he has long maintained a keen interest in AI, more recently Brian has made making data analysis a central focus, and is exploring tools ranging from NLP and clustering to predictive analytics.

Throughout his 18-year tenure, Brian has covered an array of life science topics, including clinical trials, medical devices, and drug discovery and development. Prior to WTWH, he held the title of content director at Informa, where he focused on topics such as connected devices, cybersecurity, AI and Industry 4.0. A dedicated decade at UBM saw Brian providing in-depth coverage of the medical device sector. Engage with Brian on LinkedIn or drop him an email at bbuntz@wtwhmedia.com.

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