Collaboration uses AbCellera’s high-throughput single-cell screening capabilities to find new antibodies against a target identified by Denali linked to neurodegenerative disorders.
Vancouver, Canada (June 12, 2018) - AbCellera Biologics Inc. today announced the successful completion of the first phase of its collaboration with Denali Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: DNLI). Under the collaboration, AbCellera applied its single-cell screening technology to discover hundreds of novel monoclonal antibodies with specific binding properties against a genetically-validated target for neurodegenerative disease.
Denali’s CEO, Ryan Watts, Ph.D., commented, “We are thrilled to collaborate with AbCellera to discover biologics candidates that leverage our proprietary Antibody Transport Vehicle (“ATV”) to cross the blood-brain barrier and that could ultimately benefit patients suffering from neurodegenerative diseases. We are impressed with the AbCellera team’s expertise and approach.”
AbCellera performs ultra-deep screening of natural immune repertoires from any species to discover antibodies from millions of single cells per run, including plasma cells, B-cells and antibody-secreting cells. AbCellera’s platform supports a wide array of single-cell antibody selection assays, combining multi-step and multiplexed binding measurements, and live-cell assays. The combination of speed, screening depth, and greater specificity generates thousands of high-quality antibodies, and translates to successful discovery against difficult targets such as membrane proteins, GPCRs and ion channels.
Beyond its core microfluidic screening technology, AbCellera capabilities integrate expertise in animal immunizations for any species (including humanized rodent platforms), assay design, bioinformatic analysis using a proprietary suite of software and visualization tools, and antibody characterization for developability and engineering. The approach has been validated in multiple partnerships with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, proving successful when other technologies, including hybridoma, display technologies and emerging B cell selection platforms, have fallen short.
“This partnership exemplifies our commitment to work with companies at the forefront of innovation in antibody therapeutics. Neurodegenerative disease is one of the most important frontiers for biologics. It is also one of the most challenging, and bringing new therapies to patients will require the best possible technologies on every front.” commented Carl Hansen, CEO of AbCellera. “The speed and success of this project highlight what can be achieved when companies work closely together and share complementary technologies. It has been an absolute pleasure working with the Denali team and we are excited to be providing innovation that enables their most demanding discovery programs.”
Financial terms of the collaboration were not disclosed.
About AbCellera Biologics Inc.
AbCellera is a privately held company that engages in partnerships to discover and develop next-generation therapeutic antibodies. AbCellera’s single-cell platform integrates end-to-end capabilities for therapeutic antibody discovery through a combination of technologies including proprietary immunizations, microfluidics, high-throughput imaging, genomics, computation, and laboratory automation. Ultra-deep screening of single B cells allows unprecedented access to natural immune responses, enabling rapid isolation of large and diverse panels of high-quality lead antibodies from any species, including humans.
About Denali Therapeutics
Denali is a biopharmaceutical company developing a broad portfolio of therapeutic candidates for neurodegenerative diseases. Denali pursues new treatments by rigorously assessing genetically validated targets, engineering delivery across the blood-brain barrier and guiding development with biomarker monitoring to demonstrate target engagement and select patients. Denali is based in South San Francisco. For additional information, please visit www.denalitherapeutics.com
Contact
Kevin Heyries, PhD kevin.heyries@abcellera.com Telephone: 604.559.9005 Email: media@abcellera.com Web: www.abcellera.com