Author: Jack Abraham

Fusion Antibodies conferences and events Winter 2018

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Fusion Antibodies will be attending the following events in the second half of 2018. If you are going to be at any of the following events get in touch with us today via email at info@fusionantibodies.com and arrange a meeting!


BIOSPAIN – 25th-27th September – Seville, Spain

BIOSPAIN is the largest biotech event organized by a national bioindustry association in Europe and one of the largest in the world by the number of one-to-one meetings (+3.000) and companies participating (+800). 34% of our delegates came from outside of Spain.

Fusion Antibodies Miguel De Abreu (Key Account Manager) and Alex Spara Dominguez  (Business Development) will be attending this event, so get in touch today to organise a meeting. 

US West Coast Antibody Engineering Xchange San Diego – 26th September – San Diego    

HubXchange’s US West Coast Antibody Engineering Xchange 2018, bringing together executives from pharma and biotech as well as thought leaders from academia to address and find solutions to the key issues faced in engineering antibodies.

Take advantage of this unique highly interactive meeting format designed for maximum engagement, collaboration and networking with your peers. 

Fusion Antibodies Jody Haddow (Business Development) and Julie Gormley (Director of Business Development) will be attending this event, get in touch today to organise a meeting. 

Artificial Intelligence in Drug Discovery & Development – 3rd October – New York

The BioIDEA October biotech showcase will take place in midtown location in New York City. We will hear from innovative companies employing Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools for drug discovery and development. Companies will deliver 10-minute presentations followed by discussion and networking. 

Paul Kerr (CEO) will be attending this event to share how Fusion Antibodies is employing machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) into its CDRx humanization platform to select the best possible drug candidates.

For more information get in touch today!

BioJapan– 10th-12th October – Yokohama, Japan

BioJapan has played an important role in facilitating interaction between Japanese and global companies/organizations and stimulating new business opportunities for almost two decades.

Top business development, licensing, and alliance management professionals, R&D personnel, and biotech company executives from around the world will gather in Yokohama in October 2018 for the 20th iteration of BioJapan. Over 900 organizations from around 30 countries are expected to participate in the event, to hold an anticipated 9,000 business meetings over the course of the three days.

Fusion Antibodies Paul Kerr (CEO) and Yang Yang (Key Account Manager) will be attending this event, so get in touch today to organise a meeting.

Human Antibodies & Hybridomas – 22nd-24th October – Riga, Latvia

The 21st Human Antibodies and Hyridomas  conference will be held at the Pullman Riga Old Town Hotel in Riga, the capital city of Latvia.

The HAH 2018 scientific programme will include keynote lectures, contributed oral papers and poster presentations emphasising all key aspects of human antibody technologies, applications and engineering.

Dr Richard Buick from our Fusion team will be discussing ‘Rational library design for antibody affinity maturation’. 

Fusion Antibodies Richard Buick (CTO), Anthony O’Kane (Team Leader – Monoclonal Discovery) and Aaron Pollock (Business Development) will be attending this event, so get in touch today to organise a meeting.

World Immunotherapy Congress – 29th-31st October – Basel, Switzerland 

The World Immunotherapy Congress brings speakers from around the world across multiple tracks allowing you to create your own agenda.

The collocated events offer access to 200+ speakers covering a wide range topics over the 3 day event. 

Fusion Antibodies Hayley Close(Key Account Manager) and Emma Armstrong (Business Development) will be attending this event, meet with them at booth #43.

BIO-EUROPE – 5th-7th November – Copenhagen, Denmark

The BIO-Europe 2018 partnering event is expected to draw over 4,000 industry attendees for three days of high level networking, representing more than 2,000 companies from over 60 countries.

BIO-Europe attracts a wide range of business leaders, including senior executives of leading biotech companies, business development teams from large and midsize pharmaceutical companies, investors and other industry experts.

Fusion Antibodies Paul Kerr (CEO) and Aaron Pollock (Business Development) will be attending this event, get in touch today to organise a meeting.

PEGS Europe – 12th-16th November – Lisbon, Portugal 

PEGS Europe is the largest European event covering all aspects of protein and antibody engineering. Close to the vibrant waterfront district, the historic neighbourhood of Belem, and numerous visitor attractions, PEGS Europe will include more topics, posters, and exhibits than ever before.

After record participation by attendees, speakers, sponsors, and exhibitors last year, the 2018 event will celebrate ten years of PEGS Europe. 

Fusion Antibodies Paul Kerr (CEO), Hayley Close(Key Account Manager), Emma Armstrong (Business Development), Darragh MacCann (Team Leader – Antibody Humanization) and Nicola Doran (Team Leader – Transient expression) will be attending this event, meet with them at booth #08.

Antibody Engineering & Therapeutics – 9th-13th December – San Diego 

Attend the #1 forum for scientific exchange and networking in the fields of antibody engineering and therapeutics, immunobiology and next-generation binders.

Expand your pipeline of antibody therapeutics by hearing 125+ case studies, new data and industry updates from experts working across the entire spectrum of antibody development and production. Accelerate your promising therapeutic towards commercial success by connecting with 75+ leading technology and service providers.

Dr Richard Buick from our Fusion team will be discussing ‘Rational library design for antibody affinity maturation’. 

Fusion Antibodies Richard Buick (CTO), Jody Haddow (Business Development) and Leona McGirr  (Team leader – Affinity Maturation) will be attending this event, so get in touch today to organise a meeting.

Fusion Antibodies introduce new services; Antibody Developability by Design, A.D.D.™

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Fusion Antibodies are proud to introduce our A.D.D.™ platform, to help advance novel biologics through clinic development and to the market.

The more we learn about clinical successes and failures, the better we can apply our expert knowledge and cutting edge technologies to design exceptional antibodies. To help achieve this we are introducing our custom developed A.D.D.™ platform to assess and optimize the developability profile of your antibody at the earliest stages to deliver the best possible antibody sequence.

By developing your perfect antibody sequence, we will accelerate your development program, address potential developability issues, saving you time and money while increasing the chance of candidate success.

We offer a range of standard and tailored packages to help you reach your end goal and target candidate profile. Packages can be built from our suite of in silico analyses and in vitro techniques. This includes affinity optimisation, reducing propensity for aggregation, removal of T cell epitopes, CDR germlining, removal of charge variants and more.

Fusion Antibodies understand what it takes to deliver the optimal antibody sequence, to mitigate downstream risks and offer the best chances of success in the clinic.

For more information on Antibody Developability by Design, A.D.D.™ read more here  or contact us today!

Humanized antibody Jf5 detects Aspergillus

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Towards translational ImmunoPET/MR imaging of invasive Pulmonary Aspergillosis: The Humanized Monoclonal Antibody JF5 detects Aspergillus Lung Infections in Vivo

Objective

Invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA)is a frequently fatal lung disease of neutropenic patients caused by the ubiquitous airborne fungus Aspergillus fumigatus. Diagnosis of IPA is a major challenge as clinical manifestations of the disease are nonspecific, and methods for the detection of circulating biomarkers such as β-D-glucan or galactomannan (GM) in the bloodstream lack specificity or sensitivity. 

In a previous study, ISCA Diagnostics and co-workers developed a novel non-invasive procedure for IPA diagnosis based on antibody-guided positron emission tomography and magnetic resonance imaging (ImmunoPET/MRI) using a [64Cu]DOTA-labelled mouse monoclonal antibody (mAb), mJF5. The highly specific tracer allows repeated imaging of A. fumigatus lung infections and differentiation of IPA from pulmonary inflammation and from infections caused by bacteria.

To enable translation of the tracer to a clinical setting, ISCA Diagnostics’ aim was to develop a humanised version of the antibody JF5 (hJF5), and to evaluate its performance in pre-clinical imaging of lung infection using a [64Cu]NODAGA-hJF5 tracer.

Process

Fusion Antibodies developed a humanized version of JF5 (hJF5), using CDR grafting and applied its proprietary CDRx™ platform. Fusion Antibodies delivered the following package of Antibody Humanization services:

Results and conclusion

The results show both mJF5 and hJF5 bind to the antigenic determinant β1,5-galactofuranose (Galf) present in the target mannoprotein antigen. ELISA tests reveal unlabelled humanized hJF5 and hJF5-NODAGA antibodies exhibit increased binding with the purified mannoprotein antigen compared to murine mJF5 and mJF5-NODAGA. Furthermore, uptake of humanized hJF5-NODAGA in the lungs of infected mice was significantly higher compared to murine mJF5. This trend in uptake was further evidenced by ex vivo autoradiography of the lungs of infected mice.

Fusion Antibodies successfully developed a humanized version of the Aspergillus-specific mAb JF5. The improved imaging capabilities of hJF5 provides an excellent platform for clinical studies of IPA detection using antibody-guided molecular imaging (Thornton [2018] Frontiers in Microbiology 9: 691).

The JF5 humanization project represents another successful project for Fusion Antibodies and is a case study example of the robust nature of Fusion Antibodies’ CDRxTM Humanization platform.

Fusion Antibodies announces partnership with Protein Alternatives

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Fusion Antibodies announces partnership with Protein Alternatives to develop world class humanized antibodies for therapeutic development

Fusion Antibodies plc, a UK-based contract research organisation and Protein Alternatives, a biotechnological organisation, are pleased to announce their delight at entering into a revenue share partnership to develop world class humanized antibodies for therapeutic development. Fusion Antibodies will apply its proprietary CDRx™ platform to humanize a Protein Alternatives’ lead monoclonal antibody to bring them one step closer to clinical trials.

“We are delighted to have the opportunity to collaborate with the team at Protein Alternatives and look forward to delivering high quality humanized antibodies using our CDRx™ platform which now incorporates our ADD™(Antibody Developability by Design) to ensure we find the best lead candidate in functionality and manufacturability. The work Protein Alternatives is doing on the development of novel targeted therapies for the treatment of late stage metastatic cancer is cutting edge and it is a privilege to be involved,” said Paul Kerr, CEO of Fusion Antibodies.

“By targeting the RGD domain of the Cadherins (CDHs), the tissue-specific activators of metastasis-promoting integrins, we discovered a novel and highly promising way to combat late stage, metastatic cancer”, said Juan Ignacio Imbaud, COO of Protein Alternatives. “We are excited to initiate the preclinical development of our anti CDH17-RGD specific monoclonal antibody PA-0661 in partnership with Fusion Antibodies. This strategic collaboration with the antibody humanization experts at Fusion will be essential for our successful progression to the clinic”.

About Fusion Antibodies plc

Fusion Antibodies is a Contract Research Organisation (CRO) located in Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK. With over 17 years of experience in antibody development within the therapeutic & diagnostic industry and >110 humanization projects successfully completed to date (from Rabbit, Rat, Mouse, Chicken, Llama), including multiple antibodies in clinical and pre-clinical trials. Fusion Antibodies have extensive experience in accelerating therapeutic drug research towards and into the clinic.

Fusion Antibodies has the knowledge and expertise to build and deliver a tailored package of the services required to achieve outstanding results. Fusion Antibodies provides Antibody Humanization of Monoclonal Antibodies, using their next generation in silico CDRx™ technology, they have modernized CDR grafting technique which now incorporates ADD™ Antibody Developability by Design. Fully humanized monoclonal antibodies are an essential step in the progression of therapeutic drugs to the clinic, and the in-house expertise at Fusion Antibodies ensures development success. Fusion provide a range of services from Cell line Development, RAMP™ Rapid Affinity Maturation Platform and cGMP services to take antibodies from Discovery to the Clinic.

About Protein Alternatives and its specific therapeutics in oncology

Founded in 2006 and based in Tres Cantos, Spain, Protein Alternatives (ProAlt) is leading the development of novel targeted therapies for the treatment of late stage metastatic cancer with current limited treatment options and low survival rates. At the end of 2017 ProAlt has selected PA-0661 as development candidate for the treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). PA-0661, a monoclonal antibody directed against the Cadherin 17-RDG domain, prolonged survival significantly and achieved complete tumor eradication in a highly aggressive metastatic CRC tumor animal model.


Contact Information:

Fusion Antibodies plc
1 Springbank Road
Springbank Industrial Estate
Belfast, UK
BT17 0QR
Contact: Dr. Paul Kerr, CEO
Email: paul.kerr@fusionantibodies.com 
Website: www.fusionantibodies.com

Protein Alternatives SL (ProAlt)
Ronda de Poniente 16
Tres Cantos, 
Madrid, Spain
28760
Contact: Dr. Juan Ignacio Imbaud, COO
Email: jimbaud@proteinalternatives.com
Website: www.proteinalternatives.com

Potential biomarkers for bladder and colon cancer

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Non-phosphorylated and Phosphorylated Signal Transduction Peptide (STP) of Tissue Factor (TF) in Urine are Potential Biomarkers for Bladder and Colon Cancer.

Objective

Tissue factor (TF, CD142) is commonly associated with the initiation of blood clotting. Many studies have shown that solid cancers including colon, breast, prostate, bladder and pancreas express high levels of TF and there is evidence that TF plays an integral role in the carcinogenic process as well as in metastasis.

The objective of this study was to develop immunoassay methods to investigate the TF-STP (signal transduction peptide) domain in urinary microvesicles from healthy individuals and patients with various tumour types. Using immunological methods to quantitate unphosphorylated TF and TF phosphorylated at ser253 and ser258.

Process

Fusion Antibodies generated monoclonal antibodies (Anti-TF2 Mab and Anti-TF2-PSer253 Mab) to specifically target two peptides in the STP region of TF. Both polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies directed against various phosphorylated and unphosphorylated peptides were used to construct three ELISAs that specifically recognise unphosphorylated TF and TF phosphorylated at ser253 or at ser258. Urine samples were obtained from healthy individuals and from patients with various solid tumour types.

The results were presented as ng/ml of urine for each of the 3 anayltes in each sample. ROC curves were plotted for each diagnostic measurement and the area under the curve calculated. Optimal cut-off points were calculated from the ROC curves using the Youden Index. Sensitivities, specificities, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive values (NPV) were calculated for each of the diagnostic measurements.

Results and conclusion

In summary, three highly sensitive ELISA assays were developed by Fusion Antibodies to quantitate unphosphorylated TF, TF-Pser253 and TF-Pser258 in urine. TF-Pser258 represents a potential new urinary biomarker for bladder cancer including early disease. Unphosphorylated TF is also a novel marker for advanced bladder cancer and their concurrent use may allow a nuanced approach to the diagnostics of bladder cancer from the outset. TF-Pser253 had a sensitivity of 71% and specificity of 69% at 0.55 ng/ml cut-off determined by ROC analysis. Suggesting that TF-Pser253 could be a promising urinary marker for early diagnosis of colon cancer.  

For more information:

Tam Herd CEO of C-Term Diagnostics will be presenting at the Annual Scientific and Standardization Committee meeting on July 18-21, 2018. 

Visit poster PB514 at the conference centre, Dublin or read more on our case study page!

Funding for Queen’s pancreatic cancer drug research in collaboration with Fusion Antibodies

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Queen’s University Belfast researchers at the Centre for Cancer Research and Cell Biology (CCRCB) alongside Fusion Antibodies plc have secured a prestigious Medical Research Council (MRC) award to develop a new antibody drug for the treatment of pancreatic cancer.

Globally pancreatic cancer is still one of the most difficult cancers to treat, and new treatments are urgently required.

Recent statistics from Cancer Research UK shows that in the UK alone, almost 10,000 new cases are detected annually and the outlook for patients is much poorer than those suffering other cancers.

Queen’s researchers are addressing this gap by designing an antibody that specifically targets the surface of the cancer cells. Professor Dan Longley, Chair of Molecular Oncology at the CCRCB explains that, “this approach, called immunotherapy, has been heralded as a game-changing approach for other cancers such as skin melanomas, but new innovations are required to treat pancreatic cancer and this is the focus of our current work.”

To create the antibodies the Queen’s team will work with therapeutic antibody development specialists Fusion Antibodies plc to develop these prototype molecules.

Explaining the concept behind this new award, Professor Chris Scott, Chair of Pharmaceutical Biosciences at CCRCB at Queen’s University describes, “Pancreatic cancer is the 6th most common cause of cancer death in the UK.

“Our aim is to develop a new antibody drug that will re-arm and trigger the patients’ own immune systems to combat the disease. This exciting project is very much in line with the research ethos of Queen’s University, which is centred on Global Challenges. With this discovery, we hope to change the lives of people across the world who are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.”

Dr Paul Kerr, Chief Executive at Fusion Antibodies said, “We are delighted to use our expertise in drug development and antibody engineering to collaborate with Queen’s University to generate new drug candidates for pancreatic cancer”.

This current project builds on a successful research programme funded by the Northern Ireland Health and Social Care Research & Development Division.

The research team are also kindly supported by generous donations through the Queen’s Foundation into pancreatic research. Speaking on behalf of this group, Mrs Sharon Martin said, “as part of our fundraising campaign for Queen’s we are organizing proceeds from the first night of the new play ‘Hello Georgie, Goodbye Best’ on the 22nd May, at the Strand Theatre in Belfast and would be delighted to see the support of the local community at this event.”

Notes to Editors

1. Professor Chris Scott from Queen’s University Belfast is available for interview. Bids to Sian Devlin at Queen’s Communications Office on: s.devlin@qub.ac.uk or tel: 028 9097 5292.

2. Media inquiries to Sian Devlin at Queen’s Communications Office on: s.devlin@qub.ac.uk or tel: 028 9097 5292.

3. For more information on Fusion Antibodies, please see www.fusionantibodies.com Media inquiries 028 90432800

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