Pure MHC and Catalent Sign RL21 Anti-Cancer Development Deal

Pure MHC, LLC, a provider of MHC-based diagnostics and therapeutics, and Catalent Pharma Solutions, the global leader in drug development solutions and advanced delivery technologies for pharmaceutical, biologic and consumer health products, have announced the signing of a product development agreement.

Under the terms of the agreement, Catalent will develop a humanised version of Pure MHC’s proprietary RL21A antibody and engineer a cell line to express the antibody using Catalent’s GPEx technology. Catalent will subsequently produce purified monoclonal antibodies to support Pure MHC’s preclinical development in preparation for clinical trials with humanised RL21A for the treatment of cancer. GPEx technology is used to generate mammalian cells with high yields and stability, helping to speed drugs to clinic.

“We are confident that our partnership with Catalent will result in the development of the enhanced antibodies necessary to help get RL21A into the clinic more quickly,” said Thomas Harlan, CEO of Pure MHC. “Our ultimate goal for this technology is to one day provide cancer patients with a treatment option that is safer and more effective than those available today.”

“We are delighted to again demonstrate how GPEx technology, together with Catalent’s development and manufacturing expertise, can support development of novel therapies and  enable companies such as Pure MHC to validate their unique target screening methodology,” said Jonathan Arnold, VP, General Manager of Catalent’s Advanced Delivery Technologies business.

Pure MHC has developed a suite of MHC/ligand targets that recognise cancerous cells in addition to producing monoclonal antibodies for these distinct MHC/ligand cancer targets. Antibodies such as RL21A distinguish primary cancers from healthy tissue and, in animal models, have been shown to arrest tumor development.