Somerset, NJ, and Austin, TX, – November 20, 2013 — Pure MHC, LLC, a provider of MHC-based diagnostics and therapeutics, and Catalent Pharma Solutions, the global leader in drug development solutions and advanced delivery technologies for pharmaceutical, biologic and consumer health products, today announced the signing of a product development agreement. Under the terms of the agreement, Catalent will develop a humanized version of Pure MHC’s proprietary RL21A antibody and engineer a cell line to express the antibody using Catalent’s GPExÒ technology. Catalent will subsequently produce purified monoclonal antibodies to support Pure MHC’s preclinical development in preparation for clinical trials with humanized RL21A for the treatment of cancer. GPEx technology is used to generate mammalian cells with high yields and stability, helping to speed drugs to clinic.
“We are confident that our partnership with Catalent will result in the development of the enhanced antibodies necessary to help get RL21A into the clinic more quickly”, said Thomas Harlan, CEO of Pure MHC, “Our ultimate goal for this technology is to one day provide cancer patients with a treatment option that is safer and more effective than those available today.”
“We are delighted to again demonstrate how GPEx technology, together with Catalent’s development and manufacturing expertise, can support development of novel therapies and enable companies such as Pure MHC to validate their unique target screening methodology,” said Jonathan Arnold, VP, General Manager of Catalent’s Advanced Delivery Technologies business.
Pure MHC has developed a suite of MHC/ligand targets that recognize cancerous cells in addition to producing monoclonal antibodies for these distinct MHC/ligand cancer targets. Antibodies such as RL21A distinguish primary cancers from healthy tissue and, in animal models, have been shown to arrest tumor development.
About Catalent
Catalent Pharma Solutions is the global leader in development solutions and advanced drug delivery technologies, providing worldwide clinical and commercial supply capabilities for drugs, biologics and consumer health products. With over 75 years serving the industry, Catalent has proven expertise in bringing more customer products to market faster, enhancing product performance and ensuring reliable product supply. Catalent employs approximately 8,500 people, including over 1,000 scientists, at nearly 30 facilities across 5 continents and generates more than $1.7 billion in annual revenue. Catalent is headquartered in Somerset, N.J. For more information, visit www.catalent.com.
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About Pure MHC
Pure MHC is an immunology company focused on MHC-based diagnostics and therapeutics that was formed from innovative technologies developed in two Emergent Technologies portfolio companies, Pure Protein, LLC and Receptor Logic, LLC, to provide a novel solution for the treatment of infectious diseases and cancers. Pure Protein, founded in 1999 and led by William Hildebrand, PhD, has technology to manufacture soluble HLA proteins that are used in a proprietary method of novel immunogenic epitope discovery and validation. Receptor Logic, founded in 2003 and led by Jon Weidanz, PhD, has proprietary technology for generating T-cell Receptor mimics from novel epitopes defined by Pure Protein. For more information, visit www.puremhc.com.