Biocytogen and Phanes Bio Announce Collaboration to Develop Innovative Cell Therapies Targeting Intracellular Tumor Antigens Using TCR-Mimic Antibody Platform
Recently, Biocytogen (Beijing) Pharmaceutical Technology Co., Ltd. (“Biocytogen,” stock code: 02315.HK) announced that it had entered into a collaboration agreement with Guangzhou Fane Biotechnology Co., Ltd. (“Fane Bio”). Under this partnership, Biocytogen will leverage its proprietary TCR-like antibody technology platform to screen fully human antibody sequences against specific targets, which will be combined with Fane Bio’s specialized cell therapy technology platform to jointly develop innovative cell therapy drugs targeting intracellular tumor-associated antigens.
Biocytogen, based on its fully proprietary RenMice™ platform for generating fully human antibodies (RenMab®and RenLite®mice), further developed human HLA transgenic mice (HLA/RenMab), and established a TCR-like antibody technology platform by leveraging the advantages of high-throughput antibody screening. This platform is dedicated to discovering antibodies against intracellular tumor-associated antigens, thereby overcoming the limitation of conventional antibodies that can only recognize extracellular antigens. Biocytogen’s ongoing “Thousand Mice, Ten Thousand Antibodies” program conducts target validation and antibody discovery for over 1,000 potential drug targets, yielding hundreds of thousands of fully human antibody sequences. This will provide greater possibilities for developing various therapeutic modalities, including bispecific antibodies, bispecific antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), CAR-T cells, and TCR-T cells.
FAN Biotech has established multiple world-class proprietary technology platforms, including the Genome-wide Signal Optimization Platform for T-cells (GSOP for T-cell), the High-throughput Affinity Platform for TCR (HAP for TCR), the personalized TCR-T cell production platform, and the T-cell Delivery Platform (TDP), to systematically address key technical bottlenecks in solid tumor cell therapy. Leveraging partnerships with leading cancer hospitals in China, the company conducts research and development as well as clinical application of cell therapies such as TCR-T, CAR-T, TAL, and TIL. FAN Biotech also possesses internationally advanced technologies in personalized tumor antigen-specific TCR-T cell therapy, personalized immune diagnostics and efficacy assessment, and personalized precision combination therapy, providing highly effective therapeutic agents and regimens for patients with common malignant tumors.
By leveraging their complementary strengths, this strategic partnership between two industry leaders will advance the development of novel cell therapy drugs and expand the potential of immunotherapy, with the aim of benefiting patients.
Most tumor neoantigens are intracellular antigens presented on the cell surface via MHC class I molecules. Leveraging Biocytogen’s proprietary HLA/RenMab mouse platform, immunization with MAP (MHC-antigen-peptide) complexes enables the generation of fully human TCR-mimic (TCRm) antibodies that target peptide-HLA complexes without recognizing HLA itself. Integrated with our in-house high-throughput antibody screening platform, this approach allows for rapid identification of TCRm antibodies with high specificity and affinity, thereby overcoming the limitation of low affinity inherent to endogenous TCRs, which can facilitate tumor immune escape. The project is currently progressing smoothly, with specific antibody sequences obtained and validated for efficacy both in vitro and in vivo against multiple intracellular targets. The fully human antibody sequences generated by the TCRm antibody technology platform can provide additional candidates for downstream immunotherapeutic applications, including bispecific antibodies such as T-cell engagers, CAR-T, and TCR-T therapies.
Biocytogen is an international biotechnology company driven by innovative technologies for new drug development, committed to becoming a global source of novel therapeutics, with the mission of focusing on technological innovation, sustaining the output of new drugs, and safeguarding human health. Based on its independently developed RenMice™ platform (RenMab) for fully human antibodies, which possesses wholly independent intellectual property rights,®and RenLite®mice), it organically integrates its monoclonal and bispecific antibody development technology platforms, in vivo efficacy screening platforms, and robust clinical development capabilities, forming a distinctive new drug R&D capability that covers the entire drug development process. Biocytogen is conducting large-scale drug development targeting over 1,000 potentially druggable targets (the “Thousand Mice, Ten Thousand Antibodies™” initiative). With the implementation of this initiative, Biocytogen has signed 24 drug co-development agreements and reached RenMice™ platform licensing collaborations with 14 companies, including multiple multinational corporations (MNCs). The company has established a core pipeline of 12 drug products, two of which are in Phase II international multi-center clinical trials (MRCT) and two in Phase I clinical trials. In the future, Biocytogen will continue to collaborate with global partners to continuously deliver numerous antibody drugs, thereby better benefiting patients. Headquartered in Beijing, Biocytogen has branches in Haimen (Jiangsu), Shanghai, Boston (USA), and Heidelberg (Germany). On September 1, 2022, Biocytogen was listed on the Main Board of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited, with stock code: 02315.HK.
Guangzhou Fanen Biotechnology Co., Ltd. is an innovation-driven biopharmaceutical company based in China with a global outlook. The company is primarily engaged in the development of immunotherapeutic drugs for solid tumors and related businesses. It has overcome multiple key technical bottlenecks in solid tumor immunotherapy and possesses numerous core technologies. The company has independently developed several internationally leading T-cell therapy products for solid tumors, as well as diagnostic reagents for accurately identifying patients likely to respond to immunotherapy. It operates a 2,000-square-meter immunotherapy R&D laboratory and a GMP-compliant production facility for cell therapy products in Guangzhou Science City. The company’s personalized TCR-T cell therapy product (a new drug) is currently undergoing clinical trials at Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center. There are currently more than 20 immune cell therapy products and technologies under development.