Biocytogen Enters Agreement With CtM Bio to Co-develop TCR-Mimic Antibody-Based Multi-Specific T cell Engagers

BEIJING and SHANGHAI, April 18, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Biocytogen Pharmaceuticals (Beijing) Co., Ltd. (hereafter referred to as "Biocytogen") announced a collaboration agreement with CtM Biotech (Shanghai) Co., Ltd (hereafter referred to as "CtM Bio") to jointly develop innovative antibody drugs against intracellular tumor-associated antigens. Under this agreement, Biocytogen will be responsible for screening fully human antibodies against specific targets by leveraging the company's proprietary TCR-mimic antibody development platform. CtM Bio will use their proprietary T cell engager platform to co-develop T cell engagers targeting intracellular tumor-associated antigens.

Biocytogen's TCR-mimic antibody development platform, which utilizes a strain of fully human RenMab^TM mice expressing a human leukocyte antigen (HLA) gene, is designed to facilitate the discovery of antibodies against intracellular tumor-associated antigens. CtM Bio has extensive experience in the discovery of innovative drug candidates for the treatment of life-threatening diseases. The company has developed a proprietary T cell engager platform with differentiated properties which is expected to turn "cold tumors" into "hot tumors", possibly overcoming the current limitation of immunotherapy.

Under this collaboration, Biocytogen and CtM Bio will jointly promote the development of novel antibody drugs that could significantly expand the potential of immunotherapy, ultimately helping to improve the lives of patients suffering from cancer and other debilitating diseases.

About the TCR-Mimic Platform
Biocytogen's T Cell Receptor (TCR)-Mimic platform utilizes HLA-expressing fully human antibody mice (HLA/RenMab^TM mice) to generate antibodies to intracellular tumor-associated antigens when immunized with MHC-antigen-peptide complexes. Subsequently, Biocytogen's high-throughput antibody screening platform aims to swiftly identify TCR-mimic antibodies with higher specificity and affinity than endogenous TCRs derived from patients. Currently, antibody hits for multiple intracellular targets are undergoing in vitro and in vivo characterization. Fully human antibody sequences obtained from the TCR-mimic platform can empower the development of T cell engagers, bispecific/multispecific antibodies, and CAR-T therapies.

About Biocytogen

Biocytogen Pharmaceuticals (Beijing) Co., Ltd. is a global biotechnology company that drives the research and development of novel antibody-based drugs with innovative technologies. Using its proprietary RenMab^TM and RenLite^TM mice platforms for fully human monoclonal and bispecific antibody development, Biocytogen has integrated its in vivo drug efficacy screening platforms and strong clinical development ability to streamline the entire drug development process. Biocytogen is undertaking a large-scale project to develop antibody drugs for more than 1000 potential druggable targets, known as Project Integrum, and has entered ongoing collaborations with dozens of partners worldwide to produce a variety of first-in-class and/or best-in-class antibody drugs. Headquartered in Beijing, Biocytogen has branches in Haimen Jiangsu, Shanghai, Boston, USA and Heidelberg, Germany.

About CtM Bio

CtM Bio, a subsidiary of Lepu Biopharma, is a science-driven biotech company committed to the development of innovative antibody-based therapies that could ultimately address unmet medical needs. The company's focus is to integrate its knowledge in immunology and disease biology with the most cutting-edge technology and platforms, aiming to design novel antibodies that could fully unlock the potential of immunotherapy.

Lepu Biopharma is China-based global-oriented innovation-driven biopharmaceutical company. The company is committed to innovation, focusing on the discovery, development and commercialization of drug candidates with the first and optimal potential of the same kind in anti-tumor targeted therapy and immunotherapy drugs. The company's mission is to develop safe, effective, and accessible drugs to improve cancer patients' quality of life and to address huge gaps in medical needs. The company attaches great importance to the continuous construction of commercialization capacity and strives to realize the strong transformation and industrialization capacity from core technology to finished drugs.

Media Contact:

Zimeng Zhang

zimeng.zhang@bbctg.com.cn

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SOURCE Biocytogen