Absci Enters Multi-Program Collaboration With Emerging Biotech Partner
Absci Corporation recently announced it has entered into a collaboration agreement with an undisclosed biotech partner. The partner is a stealth-mode company, led by pedigreed biotech industry executives, focused on discovery and development of antibody-drug-conjugates (ADCs) initially for oncology indications. The partner company has developed novel, proprietary warhead linker chemistries that it will target to specified sites on subject antibodies by exploiting Absci’s Bionic Protein non-standard amino acid (nsAA) incorporation technology.
The collaboration calls for Absci to generate up to seven novel Bionic Antibodies incorporating nsAAs. Because these nsAAs are not among the twenty amino acids that make up all of life’s proteins, they can provide unique handles for further chemical modifications when they are substituted for standard amino acids in a protein. The site-specific targeting of the chemical warheads to these nsAAs is expected to allow efficient generation of highly homogeneous and well-behaved ADC drug candidates. Financial terms are not being disclosed, but they include an upfront payment as well as future milestones and royalties associated with each program.
“We are pleased to be working with our partner to enable them to develop novel ADCs based on our Bionic Protein technology,” said Sean McClain, Founder and CEO of Absci. “These programs represent a new approach to ADC generation, with highly targeted warhead conjugation, and we are excited to be helping to advance what we all hope will be drug candidates that are more potent and have lower toxicities than existing therapies.”
Absci is the drug and target discovery company harnessing deep learning AI and synthetic biology to expand the therapeutic potential of proteins. We built our Integrated Drug Creation Platform to identify novel drug targets, discover optimal biotherapeutic candidates, and generate the cell lines to manufacture them in a single efficient process. Biotech and pharma innovators partner with us to create the next generation of protein-based drugs, including Bionic Proteins containing nonstandard amino acids, and other novel drug designs that may be impossible to make with other technologies. Our goal is to enable the development of better medicines by Translating Ideas into Drugs. For more information, visit www.absci.com.
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