Cell Medica picks up antibody tech

Cell Medica did not say how much it paid for the Swiss ESBATech spin-off. Delenex Therapeutics AG is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of locally and systemically applied antibody therapeutics. Delenex’s proprietary Pentrabodies are small, highly potent and stable antibody fragments that have shown they are superior in penetrating tissues and in crossing barriers in the human body. The modular Pentrabody platform has the ability to identify and rapidly generate antibodies of various formats including single chain Fv fragments (scFv), IgG and bispecific antibodies.

Cell Medica, which develops, markets and manufactures cellular therapeutics for cancer and viral infections, aims to use the Pentrabody platform to accelerate the development of gene-modified immune cell products with enhanced potency for the treatment of cancer. Delenex technology and expertise will be integrated with Cell Medica’s product development programme aimed at creating next generation Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR)-modified cellular immunotherapies with improved functionality and specificity. 

The deal comes weeks after Cell Medica announced a co-development partnership with Baylor College of Medicine to develop next-generation technologies for engineering immune cells with enhanced functions for the treatment of solid tumours.

“We are committed to transforming the treatment of cancer through the significant therapeutic potential of cellular immunotherapy,” commented Gregg Sando, CEO of Cell Medica. “The acquisition of Delenex provides a key enabling technology for the development of an exciting pipeline of next generation CAR-modified cell therapies. We are delighted to welcome the talented team from Delenex and to join the vibrant Swiss biotech community based in Schlieren.”

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