Organon, the human healthcare business unit of Akzo Nobel, together with MRC Technology (London, UK) announced that they have signed a collaborative agreement to develop a humanized antibody for the treatment of certain forms of cancer. The Therapeutic Antibody Group (TAG) at MRCT will use its proprietary CDR grafting technology to generate a humanized clinical candidate from a murine antibody discovered at Organon's Research Center in Cambridge, MA (USA). Organon will pay MRCT research and development milestones, and royalties based on net sales that may result from the commercialization of any antibody products. Organon will retain all development and commercialization rights. Additional financial terms were not disclosed.

"Organon has been stepping up its efforts to discover and develop novel biotherapeutics for oncology and auto-immune disorders. The collaboration with MRCT on its well-validated antibody humanization technology is a further step towards becoming effective biotherapeutic drug hunters," said David Nicholson, EVP of R&D at Organon.

TAG has a proven track record of success in antibody humanization which extends over 18 years and encompasses around 30 successfully humanized antibodies," said Dr. Tarran Jones, Director of TAG. "Eight of these humanized antibodies have progressed to the clinic and two, Elan/Biogen Idec's Tysabri® and Chugai/Roche's Actemra®, have gone on to achieve market approval. We are looking forward to applying our expertise in collaboration with Organon to humanize their monoclonal antibody which addresses such an important disease area."

Antibody humanization

Antibody humanization, also known as CDR-grafting (CDR is a synonym for complementarity determining region) was first invented at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in the UK by Dr. Sir Greg Winter and patented by the MRC in the late 1980's. CDR-grafting involves the genetic transfer of mouse CDRs (which are responsible for antigen binding) into human frameworks of a variable region. A variable region is one domain of an immunoglobulin chain, a whole antibody itself comprising of one light and one heavy immunoglobulin chain. The key to success in antibody humanization is a careful analysis of the mouse antibody to identify key framework residues important for the preservation of antibody function in the humanized antibody.

About Organon

Organon creates, manufactures and markets innovative prescription medicines that improve the health and quality of human life. Through a combination of innovation and business partnerships, Organon seeks to leverage its position as a leading biopharmaceutical company in each of its core therapeutic fields: fertility, gynecology and selected areas of anesthesia. It has extensive expertise in neuroscience and a rich and focused R&D program. Research areas also include immunology and specific areas of oncology. Organon products are distributed in over 100 countries worldwide, of which more than 50 have an Organon subsidiary. Organon is the human healthcare business unit of Akzo Nobel.

About Medical Research Council Technology (MRCT)

MRCT is the exclusive commercialisation catalyst for the UK Medical Research Council (MRC), working to translate cutting edge scientific discoveries into commercial products. MRCT bridges the gap between innovative basic science and making medicine. By providing both chemical tools and therapeutic antibody candidates, we give pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies new starting points for drug discovery and development, based on MRC advances in science.

MRCT's Therapeutic Antibody Group (TAG) scientists have a proven track record of success in antibody humanisation which extends over 18 years and has produced 8 clinical candidates and two regulatory approved humanised antibodies. TAG collaborates with MRC scientists to translate innovative antibody-based drug targets into potent and selective therapeutic antibody candidates which can then be partnered with industry. In addition, MRCT provides the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry access to the world-class antibody humanisation and expression expertise of TAG.

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View drug information on Actemra; Tysabri.