Theraclone Partners with Gilead Sciences for Neutralizing HIV Antibody Technology

Theraclone Sciences, Inc. (Seattle, WA, USA), a therapeutic antibody discovery and development company, has entered into an agreement with Gilead Sciences, Inc. (Foster City, CA, USA), under which Gilead received an exclusive license to develop and commercialize products integrating Theraclone’s broadly neutralizing HIV-antibodies for therapeutic applications in HIV.

These neutralizing antibodies (bNAbs) were discovered in collaboration with the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI; New York, NY, USA) and The Scripps Research Institute (La Jolla, CA, USA) using Theraclone’s proprietary I-STAR (in-situ therapeutic antibody rescue) technology. The I-STAR technology allows for the rapid testing of tens of thousands of fully human antibodies to find those with exceptional biologic functions and activities.

“Through our innovative I-STAR technology, we are able to uncover unique antibodies that have the capacity to neutralize viruses, such as HIV, that are known to mutate and evade current therapies,” said Clifford J. Stocks, chief executive officer of Theraclone. “We look forward to collaborating with Gilead on the development of new therapies to address HIV infection.”

Theraclone is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of novel, monoclonal antibody therapeutics for diseases that are deemed a considerable health threat. Theraclone utilizes its proprietary antibody discovery technology, I-STAR to identify rare fully human antibodies, from immunologically relevant human study participants, that may be developed into antibody product candidates that are potentially safer and more effective than current therapies, or that address an unmet need.

With a primary focus on cancer and infectious disease, Theraclone has a range of antibody programs at preclinical and clinical development stage targeting serious medical disorders with a significant unmet medical need including: triple negative and endocrine treatment-resistant HER-2-negative breast cancer; infectious disease-associated cancers; immune profiling of cancer patients treated with immunomodulators, checkpoint inhibitors or cancer vaccines; and Gram-negative multidrug resistant bacteria.

TCN-032 is a recombinant fully human monoclonal antibody for the treatment of patients hospitalized with serious influenza that has shown statistically significant reduction in viral load and improvement of clinical symptom scores in a phase 2a viral challenge model.

Related Links:
Theraclone Sciences
Gilead Sciences
International AIDS Vaccine Initiative