Selexis and Hoba collaborate on neuropathy pain treatment
Per the agreement, Selexis will use its proprietary platform to develop a stable research cell bank (RCB). The RCB will be able to express Hoba’s clinical candidate HB-086 (rhMeteorin), a protein that is difficult to extract as it is found only in the nervous system.
HB-086 is a 31 kD secreted protein that encourages neurite outgrowth and glial differentiation in the central nervous system. The protein has been shown to provide significant pain relieving properties in preclinical models.
Mario Bocci, VP of licensing and business development at Selexis told us, “HB-086 is a very much needed treatment that will bring relief to all patients who suffer from neuropathic pain without the risk of addiction.”
Selexis’ platform, SURETechnology facilitates the production of recombinant proteins and integrates the proteins into biologics development.
“By leveraging our SURE CHO-Mplus Libraries module, which we designed specifically for difficult-to-express proteins, we were able to successfully express viable amounts of HB-086,” said Bocci.
He further explained that in a proof-of-concept program Selexis’ libraries allowed the company to screen for a large number of pre-engineered Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell line hosts and identify the most suitable host cell line able to express viable amounts of HB-086.
The partnership is part of a consortium of national and international partners funded by the Innovation Fund of Denmark to move the drug candidate into clinical trials.
