BioCellChallenge granted US patent for antibody delivery tech
French biotech firm BioCellChallenge has received an extension to its patent for the use of its lipid-based platform for protein and antibody delivery, covering the US, Canada and the whole of Europe.
The platform works by mixing the lipid with the antibody (or protein), the firm’s managing director Martine Pillot told this publication.
“The physico-chemical properties of the complexe (mixture) created open a kind of pathway in a sort and fusion with the membrane. The antibody is then delivered in the cytosol while the lipid stay hindered in the membrane.”
One area Pillot said the technology could really make a difference is with ADCs, potentially overcoming the problem of cancer cell resistance in various development programmes.
“It can strengthen some current ADCs in development as it can improve their efficiency,” she said, adding that delivering the ADC directly into the cytosol reduces the amount of toxins required and significantly limits their spread throughout the body.
However, she told us the technology can also be used with an antibody without the drug conjugate by “using an antibody directed against an intracellular target, blocking its function and inducing the cell death, then stopping the tumor.
“There’s currently no efficient technology allowing the internalisation of antibodies directly into the cytosol bypassing the endocytosis pathway. It is new and, it works.
BioCellChallenge is now looking to take the platform further by partnering as collaboration and/or out-licensing the technology.
“We are beginning some specific studies for some [biopharma companies],” she said, while others are eagerly awaiting the results. “Most pharma firms are showing great interest to this approach and are looking for some more data about it.”
