Drug based on naturally occurring protective antibody has demonstrated a neuroprotective role in multiple neurodegenerative conditions.
British biotech Alchemab Therapeutics this week announced a licensing agreement with pharma giant Eli Lilly for its lead investigational drug aimed at neurodegenerative conditions. The “IND-ready” drug, called ATLX-1282, is the first to emerge from Alchemab’s proprietary platform, which harnesses antibody responses from individuals who exhibit resilience to serious diseases.
Under the terms of the agreement, which could reach a total value of $415 million through upfront and milestone payments in addition to royalties, Cambridge-based Alchemab will initiate early clinical development before Lilly assumes responsibility for subsequent stages of development and commercialisation.
“With Lilly’s deep expertise in neurological conditions, they are ideally placed to speedily advance ATLX-1282 through the clinic, and maximise the potential to help patients,” said Alchemab CEO, Jane Osbourn.
Alchemab’s approach to drug discovery focuses on identifying naturally occurring antibodies found in individuals who remain healthy despite being genetically predisposed to diseases. The company’s methodology involves sequencing B cells (antibodies) from these resilient individuals and applying machine learning to sift through millions of antibody sequences to pinpoint those with protective effects. Its research is supported by a comprehensive repository of patient samples across areas including neurodegeneration and healthy aging, and powered by high-performance computing resources, including Nvidia’s Cambridge supercomputer.
One of the most compelling discoveries made by Alchemab involves an antibody identified in individuals carrying genetic mutations associated with frontotemporal dementia (FTD) who nonetheless remain symptom-free into old age. The company traced the protective antibody to a novel biological target and has demonstrated its neuroprotective role across multiple neurodegenerative conditions, including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and FTD. ATLX-1282 is the culmination of this discovery process and its novel mechanism of action is believed to have broad therapeutic implications.
“Our revolutionary computational and wet lab-based workflow has enabled us to sift through millions of antibodies to identify this target,” said Osbourn. “We think this is a powerful story demonstrating both the discovery of a novel antibody to treat neurogenerative diseases and the development of a unique platform which has great potential to provide innovative treatments across many disease settings.”
The latest deal follows a discovery collaboration announced in January this year, in which the two companies committed to jointly pursue up to five therapies for ALS.
