MD Anderson and Kymab team up for cancer drug development
Kymab and MD Anderson Cancer Centre have announced a strategic cancer drug discovery and development alliance
The University of Texas MD Andersons Oncology Research for Biologics and Immunotherapy Translation (ORBIT) is collaborating with Kymab, a human monoclonal antibody biopharmaceutical company, to discover and develop novel human therapeutic antibodies to treat a variety of cancers.
The collaboration will focus on developing novel monoclonal antibodies as well as on identifying biomarkers for identification of responder populations.
Kymouse, Kymab's human antibody discovery platform, yields antibodies with highly attractive drug-like properties and is able to identify and enrich rare high-quality molecules that can be explored as novel therapeutics according to the MD Anderson.
The collaboration will combine the Kymouse platform with MD Anderson's target biology, clinical datasets, translational and clinical infrastructure to develop products to clinical proof of concept and ultimately for submission for FDA approval said MD Anderson.
David Chiswell, chairman and CEO of Kymab, said: "Together, Kymab and MD Anderson bring power and skills to a partnership committed to efficiency and speed in delivering novel immunotherapies through the use of world-class science. Immuno-oncology is an exceptionally promising field of research and a key focus for Kymab."
Carlo Toniatti, executive director of ORBIT said: "These are exciting times for the development of monoclonal antibodies for cancer immunotherapy. This alliance presents a great opportunity to leverage our translational and clinical expertise, and develop innovative antibody drugs vital to helping patients in their fight against cancer."
The agreement is for an initial period of five years.