European Biotech Agreement to Promote Antigen-Drug Conjugation Technology

Two European biotech companies have joined forces to exploit and commercialize an innovative, site-specific ADC (antigen-drug conjugate) conjugation technology.

ProBioGen (Berlin, Germany), a company specializing in the development and manufacture of complex glycoproteins and Eucodis Bioscience (Vienna, Austria), a firm with extensive expertise in enzyme engineering, have signed an exclusive license agreement under which ProBioGen gains exclusive rights to commercialize Eucodis’ enzymatic C-terminal linking technology (C-LiNK). Furthermore, ProBioGen will be able to offer C-LiNK, together with its antibody development services, royalty-free to ADC-developing parties.

C-LiNK is an advantageous conjugation system that covalently links, by a specific one-step enzymatic reaction, toxins, drugs, or other substances to the C-terminus of an antibody or a recombinant protein. The C-LiNK enzyme targets a short recognition sequence of three to four amino acids fused to the C-terminus of the to-be-conjugated protein. It then cleaves this specific sequence and covalently links the drug molecule to the antibody by a transamidation reaction. This directed conjugation approach does not interfere with the antibody’s antigen binding site and does not alter its integrity or manufacturability.

Dr. Wieland Wolf, CEO of ProBioGen, said, “This agreement is an excellent match between Eucodis’ enzyme engineering expertise and ProBioGen’s therapeutic protein-optimizing technologies, and we look much forward to position C-LiNK and our contract manufacturing services right in the middle of the hot ADC field.”

Dr. Karl Hübler, CEO of Eucodis, said, “We see a huge potential for C-LiNK in biopharma, especially in ADC development, but our expertise is engineering enzymes. Therefore, by teaming up with ProBioGen, our ADC conjugation technology will certainly get a much wider and quicker access to the community of therapeutic protein developing companies and we are convinced that our agreement with ProBioGen will result in fruitful collaborations within the industry.”

Related Links:
ProBioGen
Eucodis Bioscience