Exhibit 99.1
Vaccinex Announces Multiple New
Agreements for Access to ActivMAb® Antigen Virus Technology
Eight new
antibody discovery agreements incorporate Vaccinex’s powerful ActivMAb® Drug Discovery Platform
ActivMab® platform enables the discovery and development of high value antibodies
against challenging multi-pass membrane targets
ROCHESTER, N.Y., February 21, 2024 –Vaccinex, Inc. (Nasdaq: VCNX), a
clinical-stage biotechnology company pioneering a differentiated approach to treating Alzheimer’s disease and cancer through the inhibition of SEMA4D, announces that it has entered into eight new antibody discovery agreements integrating use of
its proprietary ActivMAb platform to select antibodies against difficult-to-drug transmembrane protein targets.
Within the last 3 months, Vaccinex has entered into new antibody discovery agreements for complex targets with 3 major pharma and biotech companies as well as
5 strategic relationships with other antibody service providers who have developed transgenic animal species for immunization or very large synthetic antibody libraries that complement our own technology. ActivMAb’s new “Antigen
Virus” application is a powerful complement to drug discovery strategies targeting complex protein targets including ion channels and G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) such as chemokine receptors.
Specific membrane targets are also key to development of antibody drug conjugates (ADC) for cancer, The ActivMAb system enables expression of functional, properly folded complex proteins on the relatively simple membrane of a mammalian virus. We
believe that this is a much more highly purified presentation and efficient selection technology than the complex natural membrane fragments that have been termed virus-like particles.
“We have recently publicized success in selecting high value antibodies against challenging multi-pass membrane targets. We are excited to be able to
capitalize on what we believe is recognition of the unique capabilities of our drug discovery technology. We believe recent interest in this technology may reflect increased market optimism and renewed attention to pipelines that were neglected
during the biotech downturn of the past two years. Ongoing partnerships can leverage the full suite of our ActivMAb Antibody Discovery solutions to accelerate development of novel, high-value therapeutics”, said Maurice Zauderer, Ph.D.,
President and Chief Executive Officer of Vaccinex.
Vaccinex’s ActivMAb catalog and custom services are available through Science Exchange.
About ActivMAb®
ActivMAb is a proprietary antibody discovery platform developed by Vaccinex with unique capabilities for multi-pass membrane targets such as G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). The ActivMAb technology has multiple applications including: complex membrane antigen expression and presentation, antibody and antigen discovery, directed evolution and
protein optimization. The first clinical candidate selected through use of this technology (CHS-114, a fully human monoclonal antibody targeting CCR8), is in clinical development for cancer immunotherapy by
Coherus Biosciences, Inc.
About Vaccinex Inc.
Vaccinex, Inc. is pioneering a differentiated approach to treating slowly progressive neurodegenerative diseases and cancer through the inhibition of
semaphorin 4D (SEMA4D). The Company’s lead drug candidate, pepinemab, is designed to block SEMA4D, a potent biological effector that is believed to trigger damaging inflammation in chronic diseases of the brain and to inhibit immune
infiltration and activation