ImmunoCellular Therapeutics Signs with Antitope for Humanization of Antibody Product Candidates
LOS ANGELES, CA - July 23, 2008 - ImmunoCellular Therapeutics, Ltd. (OTC: IMUC.OB) (IMUC), a biotechnology company, announced today that it has signed a research agreement with Antitope Ltd. for the humanization of IMUC's monoclonal antibodies. IMUC is advancing its monoclonal antibodies toward clinical trials, and humanizing the antibodies will provide for a safer therapeutic with less immunogenicity potential.
"We have made solid progress in our antibody therapy program including signing research agreements with Antitope and George Mason University and presenting pre-clinical data at the American Society for Clinical Oncology Meeting demonstrating the ability of our antibody technology to detect dramatic disparities between cancer types, potentially allowing for the development of discerning antibody therapeutics for specific cancers," said Manish Singh, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer of IMUC. "We look forward to working with Antitope and believe that humanizing our antibodies is a key step in preparing these product candidates for human clinical trials, which we are targeting to initiate in 2010."
Matthew Baker Ph.D., chief scientific officer of Antitope commented, "we are delighted that this partnership, utilizing Antitope's antibody engineering technologies, will assist IMUC in accelerating their therapeutic anti-cancer antibodies to the clinic."
IMUC, through its recent acquisition of monoclonal antibody-related technology from Molecular Discoveries LLC, has several novel monoclonal antibodies. ICT-109, the company's lead antibody, is a monoclonal antibody targeting small cell lung cancer and pancreatic cancer. This candidate is currently in pre-clinical development, and the company plans to couple it with a diagnostic kit to prescreen patients for the specific antigens that bind to ICT-109.
CEACAM5 and CEACAM6 are glycoproteins that are over-expressed on a number of cancer types and have been targets for several drugs in the past; however, previous clinical developments have not focused on the differential glycosylations patterns exhibited by different tumors. IMUC has access to several novel monoclonal antibodies, including ICT-109, that target a more defined glycoform of CEA which has not been targeted before.
About ImmunoCellular Therapeutics
IMUC is a Los Angeles-based clinical-stage company that is developing immune based therapies for the treatment of brain and other cancers. IMUC's lead product candidate-a dendritic cell-based vaccine for treating brain tumors-is currently being evaluated in a Phase I clinical trial. Additionally, the company is developing a therapeutic vaccine targeting cancer stem cells for multiple cancer indications and is also evaluating its platform technology for monoclonal antibody discovery using differential immunization for diagnosing and treating multiple types of cancer. To learn more about IMUC, please visit www.imuc.com
Contact: Jennifer Cook Williams, Investor Relations, +1 360-668-3701
About Antitope
Antitope Ltd. is a Cambridge UK-based biotechnology company specializing in immunogenicity testing and the engineering of therapeutic antibodies/proteins to reduce immunogenicity. Antitope's proprietary Composite Human AntibodyTM technology builds upon the previous pioneering work of its founders in the detection and removal of T cell epitopes in antibodies/proteins. Antitope is a privately-held company and has established multiple commercial relationships with leading biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. For further information on Antitope, please visit http://www.antitope.co.uk/.
Contact: Neil Butt, +44 1223 496190
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements that are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including without limitation the need to confirm pre-clinical data characterizing distinct antigens between cancers; the risk that therapeutics based on markers detected by IMUC's technology will not prove to be safer or more efficacious than alternative therapies; the continuation of research agreements, including the antibody agreement with Antitope Ltd.; the risk of a delay in or inability of Antitope humanizing effective antibodies for IMUC; the need for substantial additional capital to fund development of product candidates beyond their initial clinical or pre-clinical stages; the risks associated with pre-clinical and clinical development of product candidates; and the lack of patent protection for IMUC's antibody discovery technology and the potential inability to obtain or maintain commercially significant patent coverage for IMUC's product candidates. Additional risks and uncertainties are described in IMUC's most recently filed SEC documents, such as its most recent annual report on Form 10-KSB, all quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and any current reports on Form 8-K, IMUC undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.