WEHI strikes commercial antibodies deal

Melbourne’s Walter and Eliza Hall Institute (WEHI) has entered into a commercial agreement with New Jersey-based biotech BD to develop the institute’s reagents for research and diagnostic tools.

The institute has produced over 100 monoclonal antibodies for research into cancer, chronic inflammatory diseases and infectious diseases. The collaboration announced today will seek to advance a number of its existing programs seeking novel targets for therapeutic monoclonal antibody and drug development.

Under the terms of the agreement, the financial details of which remain commercial and in confidence, BD will make up front and annual payments to the institute in addition to making royalty payments on sales of licensed antibodies in exchange for first dibs on their evaluation and commercialisation.

The institute’s business development manager Dr James Dromey stressed the importance of antibodies both in the lab as well as the clinic where they are increasingly used as diagnostic tools and biomarkers.

“This is a wonderful opportunity for the institute to share its internal resources and scientific expertise with the wider scientific community and to improve the possibility of the institute’s technology being commercialised and having a positive impact on research and diagnostic markets,” he said.

“The institute’s strategic research interests align well with those of BD, particularly in key areas such as cancer, programmed cell death (apoptosis), stem cells and immunology.”

He added that BD is a high profile, global medical technology company with a focus on improving drug delivery, diagnosis of infectious diseases and cancers, as well as drug discovery.

The deal announced today represents the first commercial contract established by the institute for the wider utilisation of its reagents.

Antibody production is one of the key research activities undertaken by the WEHI, with its discovery pipeline’ fed by more than 250 research projects, many involving development of new antibodies through its in-house antibody facility. The facility was formed in 1991 and provides a range of monoclonal and polyclonal antibody-related services to internal research groups and external research organisations.

The WEHI has a track record of developing commercially successful products. Included among them is the LIF protein, which is essential for the maintenance of embryonic stem cells, and the pGex fusion protein vector.