MilleGen and LFB Sign Research Partnership Agreement

MilleGen (Toulouse, France), a biopharmaceutical company focused on directed molecular evolution (DME), and LFB S.A. (Laboratoire français du Fractionnement et des Biotechnologies S.A.; Las Ulis, France), a pharmaceutical supplier to French hospitals, have entered into a strategic collaboration.
Under the terms of the agreement, the two companies will design a new generation of recombinant monoclonal antibodies (MAbs), which are therapeutically and economically more effective. In order to achieve this, MilleGen and LFB will work to improve the MAbs pharmacokinetics and effectors functions, which play a key role in their therapeutic capacity.

The deal brings together MilleGen's DME platform Mutagen and LFB's know-how and expertise in therapeutic antibody discovery and development. This will allow the generation of a new and innovative platform dedicated to the enhancement of therapeutic efficacy. MilleGen will apply its Mutagen technology to genetically engineer the Fc region of the antibody as a first phase of the project. The second step will involve LFB S.A. in conducting pre-clinical evaluation of antibody candidates, in particular in the field of onco-hematology.

Antibodies are one of the fastest growing segments of the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. Despite significant progress, traditional development of antibody-based therapies has had limited success. For this reason, there is a need for
R&D programs, which focus on new approaches, enhance antibody efficacy, allow smaller doses, and lower costs.

The project, led by MilleGen and LFB S.A., will also include an academic laboratory (Inserm U858, Toulouse, France) involved in the molecular and cellular engineering of recombinant antibodies. Both partners obtained grants from the French government for this R&D project, as a result of selection by the Cancer BioSanté Midi Pyrénées competitiveness area for special status. Financial terms and conditions were not disclosed.


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