VICTORIA, Nov. 5, 2019 /CNW/ - IMMUNOPRECISE
ANTIBODIES LTD. (the "Company" or "IPA") (TSX VENTURE: IPA) (OTCQB:
IPATF), an industry leader in the discovery of novel, therapeutic
antibodies, announces that Talem Therapeutics, a wholly-owned
subsidiary, has entered into a worldwide OmniAb®
platform license agreement with Ligand Pharmaceuticals
(NASDAQ:LGND).
This license enables Talem to access Ligand's unique OmniAb
platform for use with Talem's leading antibody discovery
capabilities. OmniAb is a genetically engineered platform for the
generation of diverse mono- and bispecific, fully human antibodies,
and the industry's only platform comprised of the three species
rats, mice, and chickens.
Under the license, Talem has the right to develop and partner
fully human antibodies in OmniRat®,
OmniFlic®, OmniMouse®,
OmniChicken®, and OmniClic™. Talem will leverage OmniAb
with ImmunoPrecise's leading, high-throughput technologies,
allowing programs to leapfrog risky and time-consuming early
discovery and accelerate generation of de-risked lead candidates
for partners worldwide.
Ligand is eligible to receive clinical milestone
payments as well as mid-single-digit royalties.
Talem will leverage the multiple technology tracks for antibody
discovery within ImmunoPrecise, including high throughput, rapid
identification of candidates through high performance, single B
cell interrogation; electrofusion-based, single step cloning
hybridoma generation; and accessing ImmunoPrecise's
DeepDisplay® custom, immune phage libraries. All of
these technologies cohere seamlessly with IPA's integrated
Artemis™ Intelligence Metadata (AIM)™ capabilities to
enable rapid turnaround on additional outputs in therapeutic
optimization, stability, affinity, and manufacturability.
"ImmunoPrecise has years of experience successfully employing
OmniAb animals in antibody discovery. Combining ImmunoPrecise's
end-to-end antibody discovery technologies with Ligand's leading
OmniAb platform is a natural progression, supporting both
companies' overall mission of getting the best therapeutic
antibodies to the clinic faster, in this case, all under one roof,"
said Jennifer Bath, CEO of
ImmunoPrecise. "Enabling Talem's internal discovery for the
development of therapeutic antibodies in OmniAb
animals provides Talem, and its future partners, a
distinctively streamlined path to the clinic."
ImmunoPrecise also announces that, effective November 30, 2019, Jason
Orloske will no longer be Vice President of Operations. We
would like to thank Jason for his support and contributions while
we wish him the best for his next endeavors.
About OmniAb®
OmniAb is a three-species
transgenic-animal platform consisting of five different
technologies used for producing mono- and bispecific human
therapeutic antibodies. OmniRat® is the industry's first
human monoclonal antibody technology based on rats. It has a
complete immune system with a diverse antibody repertoire and
generates antibodies with human idiotypes as effectively as
wild-type animals make rat antibodies. OmniMouse® is a
transgenic mouse that complements OmniRat and expands epitope
coverage. OmniFlic® is an engineered rat with a fixed
light chain for development of bispecific, fully human antibodies.
OmniChicken® is the industry's first human monoclonal
antibody technology based on chickens. OmniClic™ is a transgenic
chicken that has been engineered to focus sequence diversity in the
CDRs of the VH domain while leaving the VL domain germline in
sequence. The five technologies use patented technology, have
broad freedom to operate and deliver fully human antibodies with
high affinity, specificity, expression, solubility and
stability.
About Ligand Pharmaceuticals
Ligand is a
biopharmaceutical company focused on developing or acquiring
technologies that help pharmaceutical companies discover and
develop medicines. Ligand's business model creates value for
stockholders by providing a diversified portfolio of biotech and
pharmaceutical product revenue streams that are supported by an
efficient and low corporate cost structure. Ligand's goal is to
offer investors an opportunity to participate in the promise of the
biotech industry in a profitable, diversified and lower-risk
business than a typical biotech company. Ligand's business model is
based on doing what they do best: drug discovery, early-stage drug
development, product reformulation and partnering. Ligand partners
with other pharmaceutical companies to leverage what they do best
(late-stage development, regulatory management and
commercialization) to ultimately generate our revenue. Ligand's
Captisol® platform technology is a patent-protected,
chemically modified cyclodextrin with a structure designed to
optimize the solubility and stability of drugs. OmniAb®
is a patent-protected transgenic animal platform used in the
discovery of fully human mono-and bispecific therapeutic
antibodies. Ligand has established multiple alliances, licenses and
other business relationships with the world's leading
pharmaceutical companies including Amgen, Merck, Pfizer, Gilead,
Janssen, Baxter International and Eli Lilly.
About Talem Therapeutics LLC
Talem Therapeutics
(Talem) is a wholly owned subsidiary of ImmunoPrecise Antibodies
USA and is focused on the
discovery and development of next-generation, human, monoclonal,
therapeutic antibodies targeting neurology, immuno-oncology,
gastroenterology, inflammation, and rare/specialty diseases. Using
the proprietary antibody discovery platforms and innovative
technologies housed at ImmunoPrecise Antibodies and U-Protein
Express (an IPA company), Talem aims to accelerate novel,
therapeutic antibody treatments to the clinic through strategic
alliances and partners.
About ImmunoPrecise Antibodies
Ltd.
ImmunoPrecise is an international, full-service,
therapeutic antibody discovery company offering species agnostic
advancements such as the B cell Select™ progressive, single-cell
interrogation technology and the DeepDisplay™ custom phage
libraries, as well as the Abthena™ bispecific program. IPA is
focused on the next generation of antibody discovery, to deliver
the most therapeutically relevant antibodies, in a shorter period
of time, with the highest probability of succeeding to clinical
trials. ImmunoPrecise discovery and development are conducted in
Utrecht and Oss, the Netherlands (U-Protein Express and IPA
Europe, respectively), and in Victoria,
British Columbia (IPA Canada). The Company operates globally
to offer a continuum of superior antibody services, transforming
the face of therapeutic discovery, by decreasing turnaround time
and risk, and promoting clinical success.
Forward Looking Information
This news release
contains statements that, to the extent they are not recitations of
historical fact, may constitute "forward-looking statements" within
the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. The Company
uses words such as "may", "would", "could", "will", "likely",
"expect", "believe", "intend" and similar expressions to identify
forward-looking statements. Any such forward-looking statements are
based on assumptions and analyses made by ImmunoPrecise in light of
its experience and its perception of historical trends, current
conditions and expected future developments. However, whether
actual results and developments will conform to ImmunoPrecise's
expectations and predictions is subject to any number of risks,
assumptions and uncertainties. Many factors could cause
ImmunoPrecise's actual results to differ materially from those
expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements contained in
this news release. Such factors include, among other things, actual
revenues and earnings for IPA being lower than anticipated, and
those risks and uncertainties described in ImmunoPrecise's annual
management discussion and analysis for the fiscal year
ended April 30, 2018 which can be accessed
at www.sedar.com. The "forward-looking
statements" contained herein speak only as of the date of this
press release and, unless required by applicable law, ImmunoPrecise
undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise such
information, whether as a result of new information, future events
or otherwise.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services
Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX
Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or
accuracy of this release.
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SOURCE ImmunoPrecise Antibodies Ltd.