ARANA, KYOWA HAKKO DEVELOP COLORECTAL CANCER DRUG
April 27th 2008 11:14
Thursday April 24, 2008
Daily news on ASX-listed biotechnology companies
* ASX, BIOTECHS DOWN: ALCHEMIA, PEPLIN, PHYLOGICA UP 5.88%, TISSUE THERAPIES DOWN 9%
* ARANA, KYOWA HAKKO CO-DEVELOP ANTI-CANCER DRUG
* BIOTA EARNS $4.4m RELENZA ROYALTIES
* BIOPROSPECT TESTS SOLAGRAN’S BIOEFFECTIVES ON HORSE ULCERS
* ANZ TRICKLES OUT OPES PRIME ACRUX, SOLAGRAN SHARES
* STARPHARMA’S ROSS DOBINSON OPES PRIME OVERHANG CLEARED
* HUNTER HALL INCREASES TO 29% OF SIRTEX
* DAVID BREEZE REPLACES SENG YAP AS BIOPHARMICA CHAIRMAN
THE MARKET
Eight of the Biotech Daily Top 40 stocks were up, 19 fell, eight were unchanged and five were untraded.
Alchemia, Peplin and Phylogica all climbed 5.88 percent to 45 cents, 54 cents and nine cents respectively. Arana was up 5.21 percent to $1.01.
Tissue Therapies led the falls, down 1.5 cents or 9.38 percent to 14.5 cents, followed by Portland down 8.33 percent to 5.5 cents and Chemgenex down 7.07 percent to 92 cents.
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ARANA
Arana says it will co-develop ART104 for colorectal cancer with Kyowa Hakko Kogyo.
Arana will receive an upfront $US4 million payment and milestones of up to $US4 million.
ART104 will be enhanced using Kyowa Hakko’s proprietary Potelligent and Complegent technologies. Arana and the Tokyo-based Kyowa Hakko will have equal ownership of the product and will equally share development costs.
Kyowa Hakko has an option to develop and commercialize the product in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and China and Arana will receive royalties on these sales.
Arana chief executive officer Dr John Chiplin said the agreement would “enhance the likelihood of successful development of an effective anti-cancer drug”.
“Kyowa Hakko’s Potelligent and Complegent technologies are major breakthroughs in antibody development and the application of them is a logical next step in the development of ART104,” Dr Chiplin said.
Kyowa Hakko said the Potelligent technology involved the reduction of the amount of fucose (a hexose sugar) in the carbohydrate structure of an antibody and the technology significantly enhances the antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) activity of antibodies in vitro, thereby increasing the potential for improved activity in vivo.
Antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity activity is one of the functions of human immune system which enables leukocytes such as natural killer cells and monocytes to kill the target cells bound by the antibody, such as cancer cells.
The company said antibodies produced by using Complegent had complement-dependent cytotoxicity (CDC) activity superior to both isotypes of natural immunoglobulin G1 and immunoglobulin G3.
Kyowa Hakko said complement-dependent cytotoxicity activity is one of the functions of human immune system where activated complement kills the target cell.
Complement is a mechanism acquired by multi-cellular organism to defend themselves against foreign organisms.
Complement is mainly activated by the binding of an antibody to antigen on the surface of a cell and leads to a chemical cascade that attacks the cell.
Arana said complement-dependent cytotoxicity was one of the major pharmacological effects of therapeutic antibodies as well as antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity. Immunoglobulin G molecule has several isotypes which differ in biological effects.
Arana was up five cents or 5.21 percent to $1.01.
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