Kymab & LifeArc Enter Strategic Partnership to Discover New Medicines Using Kymab’s IntelliSelect Technologies

Kymab, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing antibody-based therapeutics, recently announced a strategic partnership agreement with LifeArc, a leading UK medical research charity. The agreement will enable LifeArc to enhance its antibody drug discovery capabilities into new medicinal products with Kymab’s proprietary IntelliSelect technology platforms.

Under the terms of the agreement, LifeArc made an initial $10-million equity investment in Kymab, with a commitment to an additional $20-million equity investment. Kymab will receive a percentage of revenues that LifeArc generates from any products discovered and commercialized using Kymab’s technologies.

The partnership provides LifeArc with access to Kymab’s advanced suite of next- generation antibody discovery technologies, building on the charity’s success to date in antibody generation and selection. These technologies include Darwin, one of Kymab’s new transgenic platforms that replaces the original transgenic platform, combined with its human antibody screening platform, which together can quickly deliver candidate therapeutics with the most desirable drug-like properties. The IntelliSelect technology platforms are designed to rapidly generate in vivo mature, fully human monoclonal antibodies.

Melanie Lee PhD, CBE, CEO of LifeArc, said “At LifeArc, our focus is to translate promising research into direct benefits for human health and we have been highly successful in this, particularly in the area of antibody engineering. This unique opportunity with Kymab provides us with a new technology platform to rapidly generate the best antibodies across a range of therapeutic targets.”

Simon Sturge, CEO of Kymab, said “I am delighted that LifeArc, with its focus on transformational medical research which has led to drugs such as Keytruda, has chosen our IntelliSelect platforms for their future antibody discovery programmes. LifeArc has a proven track record in discovering innovative, life-changing medicines for patients, and I look forward to our working together on therapeutic programs that have the potential to transform patient’s lives.”

Kymab is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing a deep pipeline of novel antibody-based therapies in a broad range of indications. The company generates its product candidates using its proprietary, integrated platforms collectively called IntelliSelect. Kymab’s platforms have been designed to maximize the diversity of human antibodies produced in response to immunization with antigens. Selecting from a broad diversity of fully human antibodies allows for the identification of antibodies with optimal drug-like properties.

 The IntelliSelect Transgenics platform is designed to generate fully human monoclonal antibodies from several highly engineered strains of mice that have the complete constellation of human antibody building blocks in their genome. The IntelliSelect Screening technology combines single cell sequencing, genomics and proprietary bioinformatic algorithms to prioritize and select antibodies generated by IntelliSelect Transgenics platforms that have the most desirable drug-like properties. For more information, visit www.kymab.com.

LifeArc is a self-funded medical research charity. Its mission is to advance translation of early science into health care treatments or diagnostics that can be taken through to full development and made available to patients. It has been doing this for more than 25 years and its work has resulted in a diagnostic for antibiotic resistance and four licensed medicines. The organization’s success allows it to explore new approaches to stimulate and fund translation. LifeArc has its own drug discovery and diagnostics development facilities, supported by experts in technology transfer and intellectual property who also provide services to other organizations. Its model is built on collaboration, and partners with a broad range of groups including medical research charities, research organizations, industry, and academic scientists. LifeArc is motivated by patient need and scientific opportunity. Two funds help LifeArc to invest in external projects for the benefit of patients: our Philanthropic Fund provides grants to support medical research projects focused on the translation of rare diseases research and the Seed Fund is aimed at start-up companies focused on developing new therapeutics and biological modalities. For more information, visit on www.lifearc.org.