Peregrine Pharmaceuticals Licenses Anti-VEGF Antibodies t...(pipeline through partnerships or licensi...)

Commenting on the licensing agreement, Dr. Achim Kaufhold, chief executive officer of Affitech, said, "Using advanced phage display technologies, Affitech successfully identified fully human, potent and selective anti-VEGF antibodies as part of a previous research and development collaboration with Peregrine. As a result of the recently completed reverse acquisition of Pharmexa, Affitech has now added product development expertise to its drug discovery capabilities. We are therefore delighted now to have acquired the exclusive worldwide development and commercialization rights for this exciting program."

Anti-VEGF therapy has become a standard part of treatments for many different types of solid tumors. According to projections of some market analysts, sales of anti-VEGF antibodies are expected to exceed $10 billion by 2015. The fully human and selective anti-VEGF monoclonal antibody, r84, which is the most advanced candidate in Peregrine's anti-VEGF antibody program, targets the cancer-promoting growth factor VEGF. Data presented at IBC's 5th Annual International Anti-Angiogenesis Conference in 2007 showed that r84 was as effective as Avastin(R) (bevacizumab) in inhibiting tumor growth in a number of models of human cancers, including a mouse model of human breast cancer. r84 is distinctive because it selectively blocks VEGF from binding to VEGF receptor 2 (VEGFR2), while non-selective agents such as Avastin block binding to both VEGFR2 and VEGF receptor 1 (VEGFR1). Selective anti-VEGF agents such as r84 may have safety and efficacy advantages over non-selective approaches. In addition, the fully human nature of the r84 antibody minimizes the risk of an immune response ag
'/>"/>