Biolojic Design Announces that Nektar Therapeutics Has Exercised Its License Option to Develop an AI-Designed Agonistic Antibody Targeting TNFR2 for the Treatment of Autoimmune Diseases
24 Abril 2024 - 6:00AM
Biolojic Design Announces that Nektar Therapeutics Has Exercised
Its License Option to Develop an AI-Designed Agonistic Antibody
Targeting TNFR2 for the Treatment of Autoimmune Diseases
Biolojic Design, a biotechnology company that uses AI to transform
antibodies into intelligent medicinal solutions, today announced
that Nektar exercised its license option to develop a program
resulting from the companies’ research collaboration initiated in
2021. The research collaboration was established to design and test
agonistic antibodies targeting tumor necrosis factor receptor type
II (TNFR2), a novel, biologically-validated disease target
implicated in a wide range of autoimmune diseases that has been
difficult to drug with conventional medicines.
The antibody program selected for development (now
known as NKTR-0165) is designed to modulate the TNFR2 pathway in
order to agonize - or activate - T regulatory cells and other
anti-inflammatory cell populations, making this a promising
approach to stimulating the immune system in ulcerative colitis,
multiple sclerosis, vitiligo, and other autoimmune disease states.
Under the 2021 research agreement, Nektar has tested antibodies
computationally designed by Biolojic Design to precisely agonize
the TNFR2 receptor.
Following successful preclinical in vitro and in
vivo studies, Nektar decided to exercise the license option and has
been advancing the program through IND enabling studies since late
December, 2023. If the NKTR-0165 candidate proceeds through
clinical development, Biolojic Design is entitled to development
milestones and sales royalties.
Yanay Ofran, Ph.D., CEO and founder of Biolojic
Design: “The unique agonist antibodies directed at TNFR2 are yet
another demonstration of the power of Biolojic’s AI platform for
antibody design. Not only are these antibodies able to functionally
activate TNFR2, they do so in a highly unique fashion. We look
forward to seeing Nektar advance this promising molecule through
clinical development for the potential benefit of the many patients
who suffer from autoimmune disease.”
Jonathan Zalevsky, Chief Research and Development
Officer of Nektar: “We’re excited to be advancing NKTR-0165 through
IND-enabling studies in 2024, with the goal of filing an IND in the
first half of 2025.”
About Biolojic Design
Biolojic Design transforms antibodies into
intelligent medicinal solutions through AI and computational
design. Biolojic’s platform generated the first AI-designed
antibody to enter the clinic, which is now in phase II clinical
trials. Biolojic’s platform turns human antibodies into
programmable switches with a specific function: agonism, antagonism
and conditional binding. The platform can generate multi-specific
antibodies that act as logic gates executing “and” or “xor”
function. Biolojic’s pipeline focuses on autoimmune and
immuno-oncology, unlocking validated pathways that address large
unmet needs. For more information about Biolojic Design, and its
science and pipeline, please visit https://biolojic.com/ or follow
us on LinkedIn.
MEDIA CONTACT
Biolojic Design
Todd Cooper: todd@Biongage.com