A person holds pharmaceutical tablets and capsules in this picture illustration taken in Ljubljana September 18, 2013.
A person holds pharmaceutical tablets and capsules in this picture illustration taken in Ljubljana September 18, 2013. Reuters/Srdjan Zivulovic

London-based biotechnology company Hemogenyx Pharmaceuticals is picking up the pace for one of its products, the CDX bi-specific antibodies. The company has announced a significant development of the aforementioned product as it has selected LakePharma, an American biologics company, to be its service provider for the CDX antibodies.

Chosen for its speed and consistency in delivering quality service, LakePharma will concentrate its efforts on the development and production of the antibodies. The involvement of LakePharma, considered to be the biggest biologics company in the United States, will help Hemogenyx Pharmaceuticals in the progression of the antibodies’ advancement in the pre-clinical trials. It will also take Hemogenyx closer to its goal of bringing the antibodies into clinical trials as early as possible.

According to the Hemogenyx CEO, Dr. Vladislav Sandler, LakePharma’s role in developing the CDX bi-specific antibodies has granted them the assurance in speeding up the furtherance of the antibodies in heading into clinical trials. Meanwhile, LakePharma CEO and founder Dr. Hua Tu expressed his happiness in his company’s new role in Hemogenyx’s pursuit of its goals. He also stated that LakePharma and Hemogenyx have been working hand in hand for a couple of years.

CDX antibodies as possible replacement for chemo

Hemogenyx considers that these antibodies are capable of taking over the role of chemotherapy and radiation, which are applied before bone marrow or blood stem cell transplants. Its non-toxic antibodies are said not to cause the harmful side effects brought about by radiation and chemotherapy. These side effects include radiation damage to vital organs such as the heart and lungs, fertility issues, bone damage and poison from the mixture of chemotherapeutic agents.

The CDX antibodies will also apparently improve the efficiency of the transplant to help patients benefit even long after the procedure is done. It will prevent the recurrence of another cancer in patients in the years to come, thus, keeping them away from further complications that may be caused by chemotherapy and/or radiation.

Once the CDX antibodies are ready for launch, Hemogenyx may sell them as an off-the-shelf product. It means that these products are ready-made and will be available for the public’s use.

What is LakePharma

LakePharma is based in Belmont, California. It also has offices in San Francisco and Hayward, California as well as Worcester, Massachusetts.

With its services, LakePharma aims to address its clients’ needs surrounding proteins, molecular biology and cell lines. It also seeks to enhance and increase its proficiency in biomanufacturing to help its clients move forward with their products when it comes to developing these products from scratch down to their introduction and integration to clinics and the public.

LakePharma has a vast list of expertise, and some of them are touted to be a great and cost-effective help in providing assistance for Hemogenyx. These skills include antibody discovery, engineering and production, among others. In helping Hemogenyx, LakePharma’s antibody engineering may play a role in the process. It allows the company to reorganise its antibodies in different arrangements to accommodate its customers’ needs.

One specific procedure within the company’s antibody engineering is its construction and screening of its immune library, which can be adjusted to the specific requirements of its clients. This service may play a role in making the CDX antibodies as Hemogenyx has some specific characteristics needed for its antibodies to perform their function of assisting patients in preparing for the next stage of the bone marrow transplant.

The antibody engineering process may be helpful in producing more of the CDX antibodies for Hemogenyx as well because of its nature of recalibrating the antibodies’ functions. The CDX antibodies aim the removal of hematopoietic progenitor or stem cells inside a patient’s body, and with the engineering and production procedures, LakePharma can assist Hemogenyx in producing more of these antibodies at a faster rate.

Additionally, LakePharma’s antibody humanisation may be essential in generating more of the CDX antibodies. Acquiring more antibodies may result in looking for monoclonal antibodies, which are also utilised in developing treatments to diseases in non-human sources.

The LakePharma solution

The antibodies must still endure many problems in order for them to be integrated successfully. One particular issue is the human immune system’s programmed response to non-human antibodies, seeing them as foreign.

LakePharma has found a way to adjust these non-human antibodies into friendly organisms inside a human body while performing their functions. It involves moving the complementarity-determining region of these antibodies without altering their initial likeness and specific characteristics.

Keeping on its desire of improvement and application of state-of-the-art technology, the company also came up with a plan to help it execute the process in an efficient manner. It made use of the T20 score analyser to measure the “humanness” of the monoclonal antibodies region. This tool will help determine antibodies that are human and non-human with an exceptional meticulousness.

The years of collaboration have solidified the relationship of Hemogenyx and LakePharma. This new project is expected to not only benefit both companies, but also quicken the development of the CDX antibodies as it moves through the various stages of development before finally being released to the public.