InNexus Biotechnology and Affimed Therapeutics AG to Collaborate; Will Use SuperAntibody Technology to Target Multiple Cancers
Vancouver, British Columbia, Scottsdale, Arizona and Heidelberg, Germany, (April 10th, 2006) - InNexus Biotechnology, Inc. (TSX.V: IXS, OTCBB: IXSBF) and Affimed Therapeutics AG today announced a collaboration utilizing Affimed's antibodies and InNexus' SuperAntibody antibody enhancement drug development platform. Under terms of the agreement, the companies will complete feasibility studies and InNexus will have a right to license one of Affimed's antibodies while Affimed will have the right to license SuperAntibody Technology for one antibody. Exercise of rights are expected to trigger payments in the form of licensing fees, milestone payments and sales royalty.
»This is a unique product development opportunity for both companies, leveraging Affimed's antibody generating capability with the potency-enhancing SuperAntibody Technology of InNexus,« said Dr. Charles Morgan, President & Chief Scientific Officer of InNexus, »This is a win-win relationship and provides us with the first candidate, targeting colon cancer, to enter our SuperAntibody Bioequivalent Program.« InNexus' SuperAntibody Bioequivalent Program, as recently announced, will produce SuperAntibody versions of existing FDA-cleared antibodies.
Dr. Melvyn Little, Chief Scientific Officer of Affimed said, »We are very impressed with the SuperAntibody technology of InNexus and this agreement will allow us to develop superior products based on full length antibodies with high market values. Affimed's own antibody formats, in particular our proprietary TandAb technology using tetravalent bispecific antibodies to recruit immune effector cells for lysing tumor cells are complimented by this collaboration.«
About Affimed Therapeutics AG
Affimed is a private biopharmaceutical company based in Heidelberg, Germany and specialising in the development of recombinant antibodies - the fastest growing segment of the pharmaceutical industry. Affimed was founded in May of 2000 by Professor Melvyn Little as a spin-off of his group »Recombinant Antibodies« at the German Cancer Research Centre in Heidelberg. The strength of Affimed's discovery platform lies in three large distinct antibody libraries that are the source of antibody leads which can be produced in a variety of formats from scFv, diabodies, full length antibodies to proprietary tetravalent formats such as Affimed's TandAb or Flexibody. Affimed's existing pipeline comprises several very novel antibody formats targeting some potentially very high value cancer targets. Two cancer products are in advanced pre-clinical development. To learn more about Affimed, please visit www.affimed.com
About InNexus
InNexus is an innovative antibody-driven drug development company that has developed two technology platforms, SuperAntibody™ and TransMAbs™, which improve the potency of existing antibody products while opening new markets and disease applications. Both platforms utilize unique, novel and patented methods and technologies of InNexus. InNexus is headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia with principle management based in Scottsdale, Arizona on the campus of The Mayo Clinic and has its own in-house developmental facilities. These development facilities provide validation of protein and peptide discoveries, enabling InNexus (and its strategic partners) to advance novel drug therapeutics and diagnostics. To learn more about InNexus please telephone Gail Thurston, VP Corporate Development at (877) 990-8382 or visit www.innexusbiotech.com.