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Contact: Nicholas Nicolaides Morphotek, Inc. 610-423-6100 info@morphotek.comBryan Evans Reverb—DBC 215-957-0300 bevans@dbcommunications.net
Company Prepares for Development and Clinical Validation of a Human Therapeutic Antibody against Staphylococcal Toxins
Exton, Pa. – October 3, 2007 – Morphotek, Inc., a subsidiary of Eisai Co., Ltd. announced today that the company has received $2.7M in funding from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) to support the preclinical development of fully human therapeutic monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) capable of neutralizing the toxic effects of Staphylococcal enterotoxin B (SEB) in vivo. The development project is a defense initiative in the fight against biowarfare agents.
The funding will be used to develop potent therapeutic mAbs capable of suppressing the toxic effects of SEB with the goal of demonstrating proof-of-concept in clinical trials. By employing Morphotek’s proprietary human MORPHODOMA® technology, the company seeks to further optimize the therapeutic activity of existing anti-SEB lead mAbs and then advance these into proof-of-concept studies.
“We’re excited to receive recognition and support by the NIAID to further the development of these important compounds in our efforts to create potent therapies against infectious disease agents and biowarfare threats,” said Luigi Grasso, Ph.D., Senior Vice President of Research and Development at Morphotek. “The competitive funding process for this program demonstrates the importance and need for effective therapies to treat SEB exposure. Additional improvements of our lead mAbs via our human MORPHODOMA® technology will enable us to advance our leads into clinical studies for validation and ultimately filing for approval.”
The work will be conducted in collaboration with Dr. Sina Bavari of The United States Army Medical Research Institute for Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID), the research arm for the U.S. Army at Fort Detrick, MD. Dr. Bavari is a recognized leader in the field of immune-based approaches for the treatment of SEB and has been developing systems useful to discover and validate therapeutics that are capable of treating humans exposed to toxic levels of SEB. In contrast to previously developed antibodies that had a narrower therapeutic index, the fully human mAbs under development with the current funds will possess neutralizing activity against SEB and be more safe. As part of this collaboration, Dr. Bavari’s team will evaluate and validate optimized mAbs generated by Morphotek.
The funded program is in response to government efforts to develop therapies capable of protecting civilian and military personnel against exposure to pathogenic agents that can be developed by rogue states or terrorists as bioterrorism weapons. The program is also consistent with Morphotek’s and Eisai's human health care (hhc) mission to "satisfy unmet medical needs and increase the benefits to the patients and their families."
Morphotek®, Inc., a subsidiary of Eisai Co., Ltd., is a biopharmaceutical company specializing in the development of protein and antibody products through the use of a novel and proprietary gene evolution technology. The technology has been successfully applied to a broad variety of cell lines and organisms to yield genetically diverse offspring that are suitable for pharmaceutical product development in the areas of antibody therapeutics, protein therapeutics, product manufacturing, drug target discovery, and improved output traits for commercial applications. The company is currently focusing its platform on the development and manufacturing of therapeutic antibodies for the treatment of cancer, inflammation and infectious disease. For more information, please visit www.morphotek.com.
About USAMRIID
The U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID), located at Fort Detrick, Maryland, conducts research to develop strategies, products, information, procedures, and training programs for medical defense against biological warfare threats and naturally occurring infectious diseases that require special containment. USAMRIID, an organization of the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command (USAMRMC), is the lead medical research laboratory for the U.S. Biological Defense Research Program. The Institute plays a key role in national defense and in infectious disease research as the largest biocontainment laboratory in the Department of Defense (DOD) for the study of hazardous diseases.
About Eisai Co., Ltd.
Eisai Co., Ltd. is a research-based human health care (hhc) company that discovers, develops and markets products throughout the world. Eisai focuses its efforts in three areas of therapeutic focus: Integrative neuroscience including neurology and psychiatric medicines; gastrointestinal disorders; and integrative oncology including oncotherapy and supportive-care treatments. Through a global network of research facilities, manufacturing sites and marketing subsidiaries, Eisai actively participates in all aspects of the worldwide health care system. Eisai employs more than 9,000 people worldwide and reported worldwide sales of 674.1 billion in FY2006. More than 50 percent of the group sales are derived from overseas business. For more information, please visit www.eisai.co.jp.