MaimoniDex, Abmaxis team on rheumatoid arthritis therapy

Jerusalem-based MaimoniDex will pay license and milestone fees for Abmaxis's antibody engineering technology.

Abmaxis Inc., a privately held Santa Clara-based biopharmaceutical company, and MaimoniDex RA Ltd., a Jerusalem-based biotechnology company, announced today that they have signed an agreement to jointly develop a therapeutic human monoclonal antibody for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and other inflammatory diseases.

MaimoniDex focuses on the treatment of RA with disease specific anti-CD44 monoclonal antibodies. Based on its discovery of a disease-causing molecule found only in the joints of RA patients, MaimoniDex has developed a murine monoclonal antibody that has shown bioactivities both in vitro and in vivo.

Abmaxis's in-silico immunization (AISIM) is a breakthrough antibody-engineering technology. The company collaborates with corporate partners who have proprietary targets or antibodies that require humanization and engineering. Using AISIM, Abmaxis will humanize and optimize MaimoniDex's murine antibody to develop a drug candidate suitable for potential therapeutic use.

Under the terms of the agreement, MaimoniDex will pay Abmaxis an upfront technology license fee and Abmaxis is also entitled to receive future milestone payments and royalties on product sales.

"Working with Abmaxis, a specialist in antibody humanization and optimization with an excellent track record of successful partnerships, will enable the production of a commercially viable humanized monoclonal antibody for treating rheumatoid arthritis," said MaimoniDex president and CEO Dr. Itshak Golan. "We are confident that their structure-centric approach can deliver a superior product in a timely manner."

Abmaxis CTO Peter Luo, Ph.D. said, "We believe that the MaimoniDex target is very important, as it is directly associated with inflammatory cells in rheumatoid arthritis patients".

Start-up MaimoniDex was founded by Prof. David Naor and Dr. Itshak Golan of the department of Immunology at the Hebrew University and Hadassah Medical School in Jerusalem.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on Wednesday, September 21, 2005

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