Ossianix receives milestone payment from Lundbeck for blood-brain barrier (BBB) antibody delivery technology

by kbw
•
26 Jan, 2017

Shark antibody technology has potential to deliver therapeutics across previously impermeable BBB

26 January 2017 – PHILADELPHIA, USA & STEVENAGE, UK : Ossianix Inc., which has generated a world leading platform for delivering biotherapeutic products into the CNS using the highly versatile single domain VNAR antibody from the shark, has received a milestone payment from Lundbeck following the successful completion of the objectives from a 2014 research collaboration agreement. The project focused on both technology development and the delivery of antibody therapeutics to the brain via the BBB. Financial terms of the milestone payment were not disclosed.

The highly versatile single domain VNAR antibody from the shark underpins Ossianix’s proprietary BBB-crossing technology. By fusing an antibody that targets a molecule in the brain to a VNAR that binds to the BBB transferrin receptor, the therapeutic protein can be shuttled across the barrier. Once inside the brain, it binds to its drug target. This “Trojan Horse” approach has many favorable characteristics including the ability to deliver bispecific antibodies to the brain at therapeutic doses and can be used in multiple species including humans.

Dr. Frank Walsh, Ossianix CEO, said: “ Ossianix is delighted that Lundbeck, a global leader in neuroscience drug discovery and development, has recognized the potential of our blood-brain barrier delivery technology and taken a license for the development of a number of CNS products. Our technology platform is highly versatile and can deliver high levels of therapeutically relevant antibodies to the brain, providing a new approach to the treatment of neurologic disease. ”

Dr. Kim Andersen, Senior Vice President of Global Research at Lundbeck said: “ Ossianix has generated a world leading platform for delivering antibodies and potentially other drug agents into the brain with significant potential to benefit patients with diseases in the central nervous system ”.

About Ossianix

Ossianix is a privately held research company based in Philadelphia, PA with research laboratories in Stevenage, UK. It develops novel biopharmaceuticals for a number of therapeutic areas including CNS. The company utilizes the versatile single domain shark VNAR scaffold to engineer unique differentiated products in a variety of formats including monospecific and bispecific antibodies. Its lead product is a brain penetrant CD20 antibody for multiple sclerosis and cerebral lymphoma. The company was founded by former senior executives from Wyeth and Pfizer, Drs. Frank S. Walsh, Corey S. Goodman and J. Lynn Rutkowski. For more information please visit www.ossianix.com.

Corporate Contact:
Frank S Walsh CEO
+1-484-767-2843
+44-7722455831
walsh@ossianix.com

About Lundbeck

Lundbeck A/S (LUN.CO, LUN DC, HLUYY) is a global pharmaceutical company specialized in psychiatric and neurological disorders. For more than 70 years, Lundbeck has been at the forefront of research within neuroscience. Lundbeck’s key areas of focus are depression, schizophrenia, Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease.
An estimated 700 million people worldwide are living with psychiatric and neurological disorders and far too many suffer due to inadequate treatment, discrimination, a reduced number of working days, early retirement and other unnecessary consequences.
Lundbeck’s approximately 5,000 employees in 55 countries are engaged in the entire value chain throughout research, development, manufacturing, marketing and sales. Lundbeck’s pipeline consists of several late-stage development programmes and our products are available in more than 100 countries. Lundbeck generated core revenue of DKK 14.6 billion in 2015 (EUR 2 billion; USD 2.2 billion).
For additional information, Lundbeck encourages you to visit our corporate site www.lundbeck.com and connect with us on Twitter at @Lundbeck.

Download a PDF version of this press release here.