Calixar Signs Exclusive Licensing Agreement With Regeneron
Calixar SAS (Calixar), a biotechnology company specialized in native membrane protein stabilization, recently announced it has entered into an exclusive licensing agreement with Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Under the terms of the agreement, Calixar has given Regeneron exclusive rights to its technology and expertise to conduct research and discovery of antibodies against an undisclosed target in various therapeutic fields. The agreement includes upfront and milestone payments to Calixar. Financial terms are not disclosed. Calixar’s technology allows to for the identification of therapeutic targets, especially native and functional ion channels.
While conventional approaches in the field of membrane protein isolation modify protein through deletions or point mutations, Calixar focuses on modifying the chemical environment in order to adapt it to the protein or antigen chemistry. Hence Calixar’s process enables conservation of the functional and structural integrity of targets and/or antigens, which is highly beneficial for the quality of such membrane proteins.
“This agreement is a key milestone for our collaboration with Regeneron as well as for our broader approach of using the best innovations to achieve the best biochemistry,” said Emmanuel Dejean, Chief Executive Officer of Calixar. “It confirms the biopharma industry’s focus on fully native, functional therapeutic targets for the development of high-quality antibodies and lead candidates with the optimal chance of becoming future blockbusters that address unmet medical needs.”
Calixar discovers and develops new approaches to isolate full-length membrane therapeutic targets with the highest purity levels. The company develops its own pipeline of medically-relevant targets and can also utilize its patented technology platform for other companies that need to identify, express, extract and purify membrane proteins (GPCRs, ion channels, receptors, transporters and viral targets). Calixar’s approach provides pharmaceutical companies with the opportunity to work with high-quality and reliable targets or antigens, compatible with all applications. This includes developing antibodies and/or discovering primary leads through structure-based drug design (X-ray and cryo-EM) or High-Throughput Screening (HTS) assays. The Calixar platform also enables new vaccine formulations. For more information, visit www.calixar.com.
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