Numab AG a company focused on the discovery and development of innovative antibody-based therapeutics announced today that it has reacquired the rights to ND003 a bispecific anti-IL5RxCD3 antibody fragment for the targeted lysis of eosinophils in severe asthma from Sucampo AG a subsidiary of Sucampo Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Nasdaq:SCMP).
"ND003 is being developed for topical administration to the lung in patients suffering from severe asthma" said David Urech CSO and co-CEO of Numab. "Current marketed or development stage antibody drugs in severe and refractory asthma are given systemically and fail to effectively reach the lung tissue. Based on its targeted and highly potent mechanism of action ND003 is developed to overcome these challenges and is poised to greatly reduce the morbidity and mortality of severe asthma sufferers. Together with our autoimmune disease program ND007 we now have two potential breakthrough drugs in our pipeline."
IL5R as a target and the depletion of eosinophils have already been clinically validated in asthma (for instance with benralizumab). However an important differentiator of ND003 is that it is given topically and therefore likely to more effectively deplete eosinophils in the lung. Other drugs targeting eosinophils are given systemically and are only partially successful at eradicating eosinophils in the lung. Lung-resident eosinophils play a critical role in severe asthma.
ND007 targets Th17 cells and is being developed for the treatment of chronic inflammatory disorders. Numab is currently raising a series A financing to advance ND003 and ND007 to their next value inflection points.
Numab has developed an ultra-high throughput procedure to identify extremely rare molecules with powerful properties (e.g. with sub-picomolar affinities). Moreover Numab is able to engineer highly stable variable domains which are a prerequisite for the assembly of innovative protein therapeutics with multiple specificities and predictable CMC properties.
About Numab
Founded in 2011 Numab discovers and develops innovative antibody-based therapeutics. Applying proprietary rabbit-based antibody discovery and engineering technology Numab generates highly potent and stable antibody Fv fragments which serve as building blocks to create mono- or bi-specific antibody fragment-based therapeutics with tailored pharmacokinetic properties. Numab's therapeutic antibodies are designed to improve on existing therapies in terms of effect size effect duration and safety. For further information visitwww.numab.com.