GigaGen to Develop Human Antibodies Against 17 Immuno-oncology Targets

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Dec. 19, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- GigaGen Inc., a biopharmaceutical company developing novel antibody therapies, today announced the disclosure of 17 immuno-oncology targets the company is pursuing within their robust internal pipeline. GigaGen has completed a large discovery and development effort of fully human antibody drug candidates against the following cancer targets: PD-1, LAG-3, OX40, CSF1R, ICOS, VISTA, CD47, B7-H4, CD27, CTLA-4, TIGIT, TIM-3, GITR, PD-L1, B7-H3, TLR2 and TLR4.

GigaGen has conducted comprehensive research and testing to select these targets and validate their clinical potential. Utilizing its Surge technology, the company was able to rapidly screen immunized, chimeric, fully human Trianni mice for nanomolar-affinity binders within four months. Their findings consisted of over 85 nanomolar-affinity antibodies for each of the 17 unique targets pursued, for a total number of 2,230 novel antibody candidates discovered.

"This is a significant milestone for our company as we push forward to develop therapeutic candidates with the highest clinical potential for cancer, a predominant disease characterized by immune dysregulation. Our Surge platform continues to outperform conventional discovery and development methods by several orders of magnitude to capture the incredible diversity of antibodies in circulation, and we are encouraged by the platform's ability to develop fully human antibodies, which reduces the probability of safety problems once we enter the clinic," said Dr. Johnson. "We look forward to advancing our programs by screening the in vitro activities of pairs of the 2,230 novel candidates to evaluate potential combination therapies. Our goal is to identify combinations of drug candidates that achieve more broadly effective T cell activation than single agent immuno-oncology therapies currently on the market."

GigaGen will present validation data for the 2,230 antibodies at meetings with pharmaceutical companies during the 36th Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference. This data includes affinity kinetics, polyspecificity testing, cell surface antigen binding, in vitro cell activation assays, manufacturing in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells and epitope binning.

About GigaGen
GigaGen is a privately-held, preclinical biopharmaceutical company developing novel antibody therapies to treat diseases of immune dysregulation. GigaGen's deep understanding of immune dysregulation is enabled by industry-leading technology that quickly captures the genetic makeup of entire immune repertoires to analyze B cells at a rate of millions per hour, while simultaneously identifying their antigen and protein binders. GigaGen has a robust internal pipeline consisting of novel antibodies against immuno-oncology targets, in addition to the first recombinant intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) for patients with immune deficiency. For more information visit www.GigaGen.com.

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SOURCE GigaGen Inc.