Aravive, Inc. (Nasdaq: ARAV), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical
company, and WuXi Biologics ("WuXi Bio") (2269.HK), a global
company with leading open-access biologics technology platforms,
today announced a strategic collaboration agreement granting
Aravive the right to use the proprietary WuXiBody™ platform to
develop high-affinity bispecific antibodies for a target implicated
in cancer and fibrosis.
Aravive and WuXi Biologics will collaborate to
discover antibodies against CCN2, a multidomain protein also known
as connective tissue growth factor (CTGF). CCN2 was identified from
a similar target discovery screen that identified the significance
of the AXL/GAS6 pathway in cancer. Preclinical data identified CCN2
as important for tumor growth and progression.
WuXi Biologics will be responsible for biologics
discovery, process development and manufacturing. Aravive will be
responsible for preclinical and clinical development. The companies
did not disclose the financial terms of the collaboration.
“Aravive’s proficiency in development of
anti-cancer and fibrotic drugs, and WuXi Biologics’ expertise with
biological discovery and manufacturing is a powerful combination,”
said Gail McIntyre, Ph.D., chief executive officer of Aravive. “We
look forward to further expanding our collaboration to identify
high affinity antibodies that can be exploited as anti-cancer and
anti-fibrotic agents.”
In 2018, and following the successful filing of
a U.S. Investigational New Drug application (IND) for AVB-500,
Aravive and WuXi Biologics announced expansion of their biologics
manufacturing collaboration based on the rapid success achieved in
the process development, scale-up and cGMP manufacture of Aravive’s
lead drug candidate, AVB-500.
“We are glad to once again collaborate with
Aravive as a trusted partner to accelerate the discovery,
development and manufacturing of biologics through our innovative
technology platforms,” said Chris Chen, Ph.D., chief executive
officer of WuXi Biologics. “WuXi Biologics' proprietary antibody
platforms including WuXiBody™, are uniquely positioned to expedite
development of novel bispecifics to benefit global patients.”
About WuXiBody™WuXiBody™ is a
leading proprietary bispecific antibody platform developed by WuXi
Biologics. It can effectively break through the CMC barriers for
many bispecific antibodies development with high expression yield,
high stability, good solubility and easy purification to
homogeneity, can expedite the process by 6-18 months, and
significantly reduce manufacturing costs -- a limitation
still faced by many other current bispecific platforms. WuXiBody™
Platform enables almost any mAb sequence pairs to be assembled into
bispecific constructs, which are expected to have low
immunogenicity risk and longer in vivo half-life. WuXiBody™
Platform also has an unique structural flexibility, which makes it
convenient to build various formats with different combination of
valencies (1+1, 1+2, 2+2) to meet the requirements of different
target biologies.
About Aravive Aravive, Inc.
(Nasdaq: ARAV) is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company
developing treatments designed to halt the progression of
life-threatening diseases, including cancer and fibrosis. Aravive’s
lead product candidate, AVB-500, is an ultra-high affinity decoy
protein that targets the GAS6-AXL signaling pathway. By capturing
serum GAS6, AVB-500 starves the AXL pathway of its signal,
potentially halting the biological programming that promotes
disease progression. AXL receptor signaling plays an important role
in multiple types of malignancies by promoting metastasis, cancer
cell survival, resistance to treatments and immune suppression. The
GAS6-AXL signaling pathway also plays a significant role in
fibrogenesis. Aravive is evaluating AVB-500 in platinum-resistant
ovarian cancer and clear cell renal cell carcinoma, and intends to
expand development into additional oncology and fibrotic
indications. Aravive is based in Houston, Texas, and received a
Product Development Award from the Cancer Prevention & Research
Institute of Texas (CPRIT) in 2016. For more information, please
visit www.aravive.com.
About WuXi BiologicsWuXi
Biologics (stock code: 2269.HK), a Hong Kong-listed company, is a
leading global open-access biologics technology platform offering
end-to-end solutions to empower organizations to discover, develop
and manufacture biologics from concept to commercial manufacturing.
Our company history and achievements demonstrate our commitment to
providing a truly ONE-stop service offering and strong value
proposition to our global clients. As of December 31, 2019, there
were a total of 250 integrated projects, including 121 projects in
pre-clinical development stage, 112 projects in early-phase (phase
I and II) clinical development, 16 projects in late-phase (phase
III) development and one project in commercial manufacturing. With
total estimated capacity for biopharmaceutical production planned
in China, Ireland, the U.S., Germany and Singapore exceeding
280,000 liters by 2022, WuXi Biologics provides its
biomanufacturing partners with a robust and premier-quality global
supply chain network. For more information on WuXi Biologics,
please visit www.wuxibiologics.com.
Forward-Looking StatementsThis
communication contains forward-looking statements (including within
the meaning of Section 21E of the United States Securities Exchange
Act of 1934, as amended, and Section 27A of the United States
Securities Act of 1933, as amended), express or implied, such as
expanding the collaboration to identify high affinity antibodies
that can be exploited as anti-cancer and anti-fibrotic agents and
the expansion of the development of AVB-500 into additional
oncology and fibrotic indications. Forward-looking statements are
based on current beliefs and assumptions, are not guarantees of
future performance and are subject to risks and uncertainties that
could cause actual results to differ materially from those
contained in any forward-looking statement as a result of various
factors, including, but not limited to, risks and uncertainties
related to: the contribution to be derived from the new
collaboration, the Company’s ability to expand development into
additional oncology and fibrotic indications, the Company’s
dependence upon AVB-500, AVB-500’s ability to have favorable
results in clinical trials, the clinical trials of AVB-500 having
results that are as favorable as those of preclinical and clinical
studies, the ability to receive regulatory approval, potential
delays in the Company's clinical trials due to regulatory
requirements or difficulty identifying qualified investigators or
enrolling patients especially in light of the COVID-19 outbreak;
the risk that AVB-500 may cause serious side effects or have
properties that delay or prevent regulatory approval or limit its
commercial potential; the risk that the Company may encounter
difficulties in manufacturing AVB-500; if AVB-500 is approved,
risks associated with its market acceptance, including pricing and
reimbursement; potential difficulties enforcing the Company's
intellectual property rights; the Company's reliance on its
licensor of intellectual property and financing needs. The
foregoing review of important factors that could cause actual
events to differ from expectations should not be construed as
exhaustive and should be read in conjunction with statements that
are included herein and elsewhere, including the risk factors
included in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal
year ended December 31, 2019, recent Current Reports on Form
8-K and subsequent filings with the SEC. Except as required by
applicable law, the Company undertakes no obligation to revise or
update any forward-looking statement, or to make any other
forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information,
future events or otherwise.
Contacts for Aravive:
Investors:Christina TartagliaStern Investor
Relationschristina@sternir.com
Media:Heidi Chokeir, Ph.D.Canale
Communicationsheidi@canalecomm.com619-203-5391
WuXi Biologics Media Contact Kevin Huang,
Ph.D.kevin_huang@wuxibiologics.com+86 (510) 85353705
Source: Aravive
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