Biomunex Confirms Optimal Properties and Activity of BiXAb® Antibodies

Biomunex Pharmaceuticals, a biopharmaceutical company focused on providing cancer therapeutics through the discovery and development of innovative bispecific antibodies  announced that the company’s CSO, Dr. Eugene Zhukovsky, introduced the Biomunex unique proprietary bispecific antibody platform (BiXAb) and provided an update on lead programs at the recent Next Generation Protein Therapeutics Summit in San Francisco (June 13-15). As the only start-up selected to present at the event, Biomunex unveiled a case study and novel data demonstrating that its optimized bispecific antibodies possess excellent drug-like properties, optimal functional activity and can be assembled without extensive antibody engineering; i.e. confer Plug-and-Play properties.

There are various different bispecific antibody platforms, however very few are capable of producing bispecific antibodies with good manufacturability and also lack of steric hindrance when binding its two targets – properties that are required for successfully producing new therapeutic candidates. Moreover, the vast majority of bispecific antibody formats do not permit the use of existing antibodies; instead they require the selection of binding domains from specially prepared antibody libraries, which does not allow the Plug-and-Play approach, a very attractive feature for pharmaceutical companies.

Dr. Zhukovsky presented data on ten different BiXAb antibodies, representing several therapeutic programs at Biomunex, confirming the optimal manufacturability of BiXAb. In accelerated degradation studies, the biophysical properties of BMX-002, a therapeutic candidate in Biomunex’ lead program, remained unchanged for over one month, demonstrating the excellent stability of BiXAb molecules. The in vitro results also indicate that the BiXAb platform possesses excellent 'Plug and Play' properties (i.e. modularity). Moreover, BMX-002 exhibited synergistic activity on its two targets and demonstrated superior in vivo efficacy and survival compared to that of the anti-EGFR + anti-HER2 mAbs combination. As BiXAbs are stable, do not degrade or aggregate for extended periods of time, and demonstrate modularity and excellent functional activity, the BiXAb platform is highly attractive for therapeutic development.

During the previous two years of research, Biomunex has been engaged in the optimization of the bispecific antibody format licensed from European academic collaborators into a robust and unique proprietary platform for the generation of therapeutic antibodies with superior activity and drug-like properties. Biomunex continues to expand its IP position on the BiXAb platform and its proprietary antibodies. At the beginning of 2016, Biomunex filed two patent applications for its two lead BiXAb antibodies.

“Proof of concept preclinical studies on BMX-002 have demonstrated the advantageous properties of our lead candidate, with optimal manufacturability, e.g. good expression level in CHO cells similar to that of parental antibodies, structural integrity and thermal stability, and lack of aggregation,” said Dr. Zhukovsky. “We are delighted to have been selected to present at the next generation therapeutics event, where key players in the therapeutic development field were discussing the best antibody platforms.”

“Our BiXAb platform is an excellent choice for the generation of therapeutic antibodies. It provides a substantial advantage over most of the competing formats. We have shown that products generated based on our proprietary platform will bear the manufacturing, stability and activity profiles that antibody developers, pharma and biotech companies, are looking for,” said Dr. Gerard, CEO of Biomunex. “These promising results will help us nominate our first development candidate for the treatment of pancreatic and other solid tumor cancers in 2016. They will also facilitate the advancement of our second program, directed at the treatment of hematological malignancies and exploiting the clinically demonstrated power of immune checkpoint inhibitors.”

The Next Generation Protein Therapeutic Summit, the industry's most comprehensive review of innovative therapeutic approaches, goes beyond the scope of antibodies. It provides coverage of the discovery, engineering and development of novel protein therapeutics and their latest successes in the clinic. The 2016 event showcased more than 40 presentations and case studies with new data, including Biomunex data related to its BiXAb platform. Major therapeutic innovators and top-level industry therapeutics developers from pharma and biotech companies attended the event.