The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Texas based biotechnology company, Enzolytics Inc, is to leverage the contract development and manufacturing organization's expertise to advance both anti-HIV and anti-SARS-CoV-2 monoclonal antibody therapies to IND.
Samsung will provide a seamless, end-to-end CDMO service with support from its San Francisco R&D Center including cell line development, clinical drug substance, and drug product manufacturing services. Related clinical trial materials will be manufactured at its headquarters in Incheon, South Korea.
In addition, the partners will discuss potentially working on other monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) being developed by that drug development company.
Dr Gaurav Chandra, COO, research and development, Enzolytics, said the company chose to partner with Samsung because of the CDMO’s extensive experience and expertise in developing, producing, and manufacturing infectious diseases and oncology targeted mAbs.
“This partnership marks a pivotal milestone for Enzolytics to significantly advance the clinical development of our universal, durable, broadly neutralizing monoclonal antibodies and reduce time to the clinic and offer the much-needed treatment for patients."
Mulitiple infectious disease targets
The Enzolytics mAb platform is based on AI, and is said to enable the creation of multiple fully human mAbs targeting conserved immutable sites on the virus.
Besides HIV and coronavirus, Enzolytics is looking to treat HTLV-1, Influenza A, and B, H10N3, H1N1 influenza, Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), Ebola, Small-Pox, Herpes zoster, Varicella zoster, Elephant endotheliotropic herpesviruses, Feline Leukemia Virus, Equine Infectious Anemia Virus, and Koala retrovirus.
Enzolytics acquired the mAb technology targeting HIV and COVID-19 following its acquisition last year of BioClonetics Immunotherapeutics. Enzolytics’ flagship compound is ITV-1, a suspension of Inactivated Pepsin Fragment (IPF); studies have shown the compound is effective in the treatment of HIV, reported the US biotech.