Amunix Announces Licensing Agreement With Celgene
Amunix Operating Inc. recently announced it has entered into a licensing agreement with Celgene. The agreement allows for the utilization of Amunix’s proprietary XTEN and ProTIA technology to augment ongoing discovery and development of therapeutics with the potential for improved delivery, enhanced safety, targeted delivery, and half-life attributes against specified targets selected by Celgene.
Volker Schellenberger, PhD, CEO of Amunix, commented “We are extremely pleased by the decision made by the Celgene team in selecting Amunix’s XTEN and ProTIA technologies to further enhance the development of its therapeutic drug pipeline. We look forward to future milestone achievements in the development of novel entities from the collaborative effort between our companies.” Geller Biopharm, Inc. served as Amunix’s exclusive agent for this licensing agreement.
Amunix, based in Mountain View, CA, is a privately held biotechnology company with two proprietary technologies, XTEN and ProTIA. XTEN is a half-life extension technology is based on hydrophilic, unstructured, biodegradable proteins that impart a number of favorable properties upon the molecules to which they are attached. In addition to the advantages of reduced dosing frequency, XTENylation stabilizes plasma drug concentrations, which often results in increased efficacy as well as reduced side effects. Amunix has licensed this technology to numerous companies in a wide range of therapeutic areas. Two genetically fused XTENylated products have been clinically tested.
ProTIAs are bispecific molecules that bind tumor antigens and T cells. ProTIAs are administered as long-acting prodrugs that can be activated in the tumor environment by tumor-associated proteases. Amunix is developing internally a pipeline of ProTIA-based (Protease Triggered Immune Activator) immuno-oncology therapeutics, as well as offering partners access to the ProTIA technology for augmenting the safety and efficacy of their molecules. For more information, visit www.amunix.com.
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