EvoGenix licenses leukaemia antibody

Antibody developer EvoGenix (ASX:EGX) has signed a licensing deal with Dinona for one of the South Korean biotech's anti-leukaemia antibodies.

The agreement gives EvoGenix the rights to develop a humanised antibody therapeutic for world wide markets, excluding Asia.

"We'll develop the antibody through our humanisation and optimisation process, and following our business model we'll almost certainly licence that off relatively early in the process," said EvoGenix CEO Merilyn Sleigh.

Dinona will receive milestone payments as the drug is developed, and a royalty on product sales.

While the actual amounts payable are confidential, Sleigh said that: "Obviously, the more value we add, the more we get out of the deal".

The antibody, discovered by researchers at the University of Seoul in South Korea, targets a protein on the surface of adult leukaemia cells. This particular protein is found only on leukaemia cells, not on normal mature blood cells or on the stem cells that generate them.

"That gives it a particularly good profile because it means that it doesn't deplete the normal cells in the blood," said Sleigh. The antibody would also allow still active stem cells to repopulate the blood with normal cells relatively quickly, she said.

The antibody could therefore provide an alternative to chemotherapy, one of the only treatment options for patients with acute leukaemia. Of the 20,000 or more adults diagnosed with acute leukaemia each year in the US and Europe, less than 20 per cent survive for three years after diagnosis.

Currently a mouse antibody, EvoGenix will further evaluate the Korean discovery before utilising its proprietary technology platform to 'humanise' the antibody so that it won't be rejected by humans.

The deal with Dinona was negotiated by EvoGenix's president of US operations, Steffen Nock.

"This was an opportunity that came into the company when we acquired the US entity Absalus earlier this year," said Sleigh.

The anti-leukaemia antibody is the fourth product to be developed by EvoGenix, with the first expected to be ready for out-licensing in the first quarter of 2006. EvoGenix uses its technology platform to humanise and optimise a succession of antibody therapeutics in a process that typically takes 18 months to two years. The Korean antibody is expected to be ready for out-licensing by the end of 2008, said Sleigh.