POLLING, Germany, September 07, 2020

IcanoMAB, a privately-funded biotech company focusing on the pre-clinical and clinical development of novel precision canonical antibodies for the treatment of cancer, immune-system related diseases and Covid-19, today announced, that it has been successfully founded and funded.

The company has secured three clinical candidates in IND-enabling stage and funding from MAB Discovery GmbH, originally generating the licensed antibodies from a novel antibody discovery platform. After 10 years of more than 50 successful monoclonal antibody discovery projects with large Pharma and mid- and large-size Biotech companies, MAB Discovery sold its antibody production platform and laboratory to BioNTech (NASDAQ: BNTX) in 2019. At the end of 2019, a pre-clinical project in the field of Immuno-oncology was licensed to a Top Pharma company.

IcanoMAB will use the proceeds to advance the clinical candidates to allow IND-enabling activities and respective partnering activities with selected third parties.

Particularly urgent are effective treatments for Covid-19 and its potentially fatal outcome driven by Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) and Cytokine Release Syndrome (CRS). While Vaccine development is progressing and sufficient broad population protection yet to be demonstrated, risks of detrimental effects via Antibody Dependent Enhancement (ADE) will require specific therapeutic intervention. In any case, an effective treatment is urgently needed as an option for clinicians to treat severely affected late-stage Covid-19 patients.

Significant improvement of clinical outcome is also required for treatment of acute inflammatory conditions including several severe rare diseases like Macrophage-Activation Syndrome, SJIA / Still’s Disease or IBD and Gout where sometimes even specific treatments are missing, addressing the underlying cause.

The same holds true for clinical outcome in cancer therapy, whether it is the treatment of women with early Breast Cancer and especially through neo-adjuvant treatment, or via novel immuno-oncology treatments across multiple solid cancers.

While monoclonal antibody discovery has progressed significantly in the last decades, precise canonical antibodies have not been well exploited to address clinically validated and/or clinical targets in a physiological manner. The technology of MAB Discovery was developed to generate an unlimited number of diverse antibody-producing B-cells (>10,000) with optimal variability without additional in vitro maturation or engineering to optimize therapeutically relevant paratopes. Resulting antibodies have been applied to Pharma-derived high throughput screening in functional assays to identify lead candidates that fulfill a predefined list of biological activities and provide optimal potency essential for differential therapeutic application. Potential leads have gone through a sophisticated sequence optimization: Humanization, elimination of T-cell epitopes & potential CMC liabilities. Addressing validated targets generated proprietary molecules with novel modes of intervention and the knowledge of first-generation molecules enabled a well guided in vitro differentiation. This approach allows focused activities for in-vivo PoC in animal models and in the clinic with limited remaining CMC risks.

Addressing those needs, IcanoMAB's clinical lead candidates have been developed to date and are in collaborations with leading experts and renowned organizations across the world like

The Dinarello Lab, Department of Medicine, University of Colorado Denver, Aurora, Colorado/USA and Department of Medicine, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen/The Netherlands;

Division of Immunology and Allergy, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm/Sweden;

Department of Infectious Disease and Institute of Clinical Medicine Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus/Denmark;

Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Medical Center University Regensburg/Germany;

Division of Genetics, University of Erlangen/Germany;

Division of Asthma Exacerbation & Regulation, Research Center Borstel, Leibniz Lung Center, Borstel/Germany and

Vall d’Hebron Institute of Oncology (VHIO), Barcelona/Spain

IcanoMAB is a private Biotech company focusing on the pre-clinical and development of precision canonical antibodies for the treatment of cancer, immune-system related diseases and Covid-19. The company is developing its proprietary clinical candidates to exploit novel approaches improving clinical outcome in immuno-oncology, solid tumors and immunology and inflammation.

IcanoMAB was founded by highly experienced entrepreneurs and scientists with a track record of successful drug development in multiple companies including Boehringer Mannheim, Roche, MAB Discovery, Xantos Biomedicine, JSB Partners, Novartis and TVM Capital Life Science. The company was founded by MAB Discovery, represented by Dr. Stephan Fischer, CEO, Dr. Ulrich Pessara and Daniel Parera, M.D..

IcanoMAB is headquartered in Polling, Germany.

Founded in 2010 by Dr. Stephan Fischer, MAB Discovery utilized a unique and proprietary rabbit-based antibody discovery platform to generate and develop high quality, functional monoclonal antibodies targeting traditional proteins and receptors as well as a wide variety of more challenging immunogens such as GPCRs and ion channels. Before the trade sale of its technology to BioNTech (NASDAQ: BNTX), MABD has used its proprietary platform to generate various mAbs for several pharma partners and for the generation of proprietary mAbs focusing on highly attractive targets with proven therapeutic relevance. In the meantime, MAB Discovery did focus on the development of its proprietary therapeutic monoclonal antibodies in inflammation and immuno-oncology.

IcanoMAB GmbH
Tassilostr. 2, 82398 Polling, Germany
+49 881 39 90 89 40
info@icanoMAB.com

Mainz and Munich, Germany, January 23, 2019:

BioNTech AG, a rapidly growing biotechnology company developing precise and individualized immunotherapies for the treatment of cancer and the prevention of infectious diseases, and MAB Discovery GmbH, a unique player in the generation and development of sophisticated and therapeutically relevant monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), today announced that both partners have entered into a definitive agreement under which BioNTech will acquire MAB Discovery’s operational antibody generation unit.

Under the terms of the agreement, BioNTech will acquire all assets, employees and proprietary know-how for mAb generation from MAB Discovery. MAB Discovery will retain ownership of and all rights to both its proprietary preclinical development pipeline and its existing third-party service agreements. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

The acquisition follows a successful collaboration between the companies that started over five years ago, in which antibodies have been generated with MAB Discovery’s proprietary technology that are currently being further developed by BioNTech.

“Having exclusive access to MAB Discovery’s finely-tuned proprietary know-how dramatically expands BioNTech’s targeting ligand repertoire and enables us to directly, rapidly and efficiently produce new mAb candidates,” said Prof. Dr. Ugur Sahin, CEO and Co-Founder of BioNTech. “The technology will be utilized with our existing proprietary platforms including RiboMABS^®, a platform for generating a novel class of mRNA-encoded antibody drug candidates.”

Administration of mRNA encoding an antibody using BioNTech’s RiboMABS^® platform enables the human body to synthesize the corresponding protein antibody with therapeutic potential. This approach may profoundly reduce the complexity of future antibody drug development and increase the inventory of antibodies that could be used to treat disease. In 2017, BioNTech published the application of this technology for mRNA-based in vivo delivery of T cell-engaging bispecific antibodies for the potential treatment of cancer in Nature Medicine¹.

“This transaction will ensure the further development and expansion of MAB Discovery’s unique mAb generation platform. We are glad to see that our proprietary technology has already generated unique mAbs for BioNTech and we are proud that MAB Discovery’s operational unit will become an integral part of BioNTech and its future value generation,” said Dr. Stephan Fischer, CEO of MAB Discovery. “MAB Discovery will now focus on further developing its proprietary mAbs with external partners.”

The acquisition will be completed and the antibody generation unit transitioned at the end of the first quarter of 2019.

BioNTech is Europe’s largest privately-held biopharmaceutical company pioneering the development of more precise and individualized therapies for cancer and the prevention of infectious diseases. The company combines all building blocks for more precise and individualized immunotherapies under one roof – from diagnostics and drug development to manufacturing. Its cutting-edge technologies range from individualized mRNA-based product candidates through innovative chimeric antigen receptors and T-cell receptor-based compounds to novel checkpoint immunomodulators and small molecules. BioNTech’s commercial approach is validated by seven corporate partnerships with Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, Pfizer, Genmab, Eli Lilly and Company, Sanofi, Genevant and Bayer Animal Health and its scientific approach through over 60 peer-reviewed scientific publications, including five publications in Nature. Founded in 2008, BioNTech’s financial shareholders include the Struengmann Family Office as its majority shareholder, Fidelity Management & Research Company, Invus, Janus Henderson Investors, MIG Fonds, Redmile Group, Salvia and several European family offices. For more information, please see: www.biontech.de

Founded in 2010 by Dr. Stephan Fischer, MAB Discovery utilizes a unique and proprietary rabbit-based antibody discovery platform to generate and develop high quality, functional monoclonal antibodies targeting traditional proteins and receptors as well as a wide variety of more challenging immunogens such as GPCRs and ion channels. The MAB Discovery team has extensive experience in developing antibody-based therapeutics having worked together at Roche Biologicals for several years. In recent years, MABD used its proprietary platform to generate various mAbs for several pharma partners and for the generation of proprietary mAbs focusing on highly attractive targets with proven therapeutic relevance.

BioNTech
Sabine Steimle
Head Global Communications
Tel: +49 (0) 171 980 1089
Email: sabine.steimle@biontech.de

US Investor Enquiries
Westwicke Partners
John Woolford
Tel: +1 (443) 213 0506
Email: john.woolford@westwicke.com

MAB Discovery GmbH
Stephan Fischer, PhD
CEO, MAB Discovery
Tel + 49 (0) 89 990 1780
Email: stephan.fischer@mabdiscovery.com

Trophic Communications
Gretchen Schweitzer / Stephanie May
Tel: +49 (0)89 23 88 77 30
Email: may@trophic.eu

1. Christiane R Stadler, Hayat Bähr-Mahmud,Leyla Celik,et al:
   Elimination of large tumors in mice by mRNA-encoded bispecific antibodies, in: Nature Medicine volume 23, pages 815–817 (2017)
   http://nature.com/articles/doi:10.1038/nm.4356

Neuried, Germany – November 6, 2017

MAB Discovery GmbH today announced that it has entered into the second collaboration project agreement with BioNTech AG, Mainz. The unique MAB Discovery technology platform for the generation of novel antibody therapeutics will be applied for proprietary targets provided by BioNTech. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

“We are excited to be selected again as a partner for BioNTech. This underscores the high performance of our rabbit-based antibody discovery platform,” said Dr. Stephan Fischer, CEO of MAB Discovery.

Sean Marett, COO of BioNTech added, “Our collaboration with MAB Discovery in 2013 was highly productive and we are delighted to expand our relationship to generate unique antibodies against a set of therapeutically relevant targets.”

MAB Discovery delivers high quality, functional monoclonal antibodies via sophisticated, high-throughput selection of B cells generated by immunization, and delivers a vast number of high quality candidates with regard to potency and epitope coverage. The use of wild type rabbits for immunization and the functional B-cell cloning strategy of MAB Discovery suits not only classical target proteins and receptors, but also to a wide variety of more challenging immunogens, e.g. GPCRs, ion channels, carbohydrates, and small sized epitopes.

MAB Discovery, based in Munich, was founded and established in 2010 by experienced pharma scientists with proven track record in drug development. MAB Discovery complies with the highest industrial standards of big pharma, but operates with the flexibility, speed and innovative spirit of young biotech’s. The company’s outstanding technology platform generally offers its collaboration partners access to a large variety of functional drug candidates to choose from, and a unique route to CMC-compliant humanized mAb’s in 10-12 months.

BioNTech is Europe’s largest privately held biopharmaceutical company pioneering the development of individualized therapies for cancer and other diseases. The company combines all building blocks for individualized immunotherapy under one roof – from diagnostics and drug development to manufacturing. Its cutting-edge technologies range from individualized mRNA-based medicines through innovative chimeric antigen receptors and T-cell receptor-based products to novel checkpoint immunomodulators. BioNTech’s approach is validated by five top-tier corporate partnerships with Genentech, Genmab, Eli Lilly and Company, Sanofi and Bayer Animal Health. Founded in 2008, BioNTech’s financial shareholders include the MIG Fonds, Salvia and the Strüngmann Family Office, with the Strüngmann Family Office as the majority shareholder.

More information about BioNTech is available at www.biontech.de.

MAB Discovery:
Stefan Müllner
+49 89 990 178-0
stefan.muellner@mabdiscovery.com

For media inquiries:
MC Services AG
Dr. Claudia Gutjahr-Löser
+49 89 210 228-0
contact@mc-services.eu

12/14/2015 12:25 

Sanofi and MAB Discovery GmbH (Neuried near Munich, Germany) announced today that they have entered into a research and license agreement in the field of monoclonal antibodies. Within the scope of this collaboration, MAB Discovery will develop therapeutic antibodies for selected targets of Sanofi and thus support Sanofi in the development of antibody-based therapies. Sanofi will in return receive high-quality antibodies with the aim of identifying active substances for a number of diseases that are difficult to treat. 

"Through this agreement with MAB Discovery we have found a strong collaboration in Germany to support us in bringing forward various antibody research projects with the help of its unique technology platform", said Prof. Dr. Jochen Maas, Head of Research & Development of Sanofi Germany.

"This agreement is an important confirmation for the quality of our outstanding research platform. MAB Discovery is a renowned antibody specialist who focuses primarily on previously refractory diseases with strong medical needs. Our in-vivo platform based on a new high-throughput screening processes could enable the development of best-in-class antibody therapies", said Dr. Stephan Fischer, CEO of MAB Discovery.

MAB Discovery uses its technology platform for the discovery of antibodies in vivo, which are based on natural immune responses in rabbits. Subsequently, the Company employs state-of-the-art technology for the cloning of antibodies directly from B-cells (a type of white blood cell). Applying new high-throughput screening processes, enables MAB Discovery to identify highly active antibodies. These identified antibodies cover a large number of different target structures (epitopes). The binding of medically active substances to endogenous targets is essential to fight diseases.

The technology employed by MAB Discovery generates a large variety of antibodies. Of these antibodies, those with the highest possible biological effectiveness can then be selected and further developed. This technology has already been used successfully for targets that are difficult to address. One major advantage, among others, is that it requires neither time-consuming optimization of the target binding, nor the development of so-called surrogate antibodies.

MAB Discovery was founded in Munich, Germany in October 2010. The team represents a group of scientists out of Roche Biologicals R&D with extensive experience in developing biologically based therapeutics. MAB Discovery follows a flexible collaboration-based business model to meet the needs of their clients and has ongoing partnerships with several biotech and pharma companies. For more information please visit www.mabdiscovery.com

06 May 2014

Synthon Biopharmaceuticals BV and MAB Discovery GmbH today announced the execution of a research and license agreement.

Under the terms of the agreement, MAB Discovery will generate antibodies for targets selected by Synthon in support of the company’s development of antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) and alternative antibody-based therapeutics.

MAB Discovery will employ its in vivo antibody discovery technology platform, which relies on the natural immune response of rabbits followed by state-of-the-art B-cell cloning techniques. Using a novel high-throughput screening route, MAB Discovery focuses on identifying highly active antibodies with unprecedented epitope coverage, potency and species cross-reactivity which has been successful for intractable targets. This technology eliminates affinity maturation and surrogate development which are very time-consuming and often sacrifice function.

Synthon will obtain high quality antibodies in support of their strategy to create a portfolio of best-in-class antibody-based therapeutics, including ADCs.

Additional details of the transaction were not disclosed.

March 27, 2014

Munich, Germany-based company MAB Discovery has cut a deal with Genmab and its affiliate Genmab BV, under which it will produce antibodies for multiple Genmab targets to help Genmab and Genmab BV develop their therapeutic antibody products.

To generate the antibodies, MAB Discovery will be using its in vivo antibody discovery technology platform, which the company says relies on the natural immune response of rabbits followed by B-cell cloning techniques. MAB Discovery uses high-throughput screening to focus on identifying highly active antibodies with epitope coverage, potency, and species-cross-reactivity. This technology, the firm adds, can eliminate affinity maturation and surrogate development.

MAB Discovery's CEO Stephan Fischer, Ph.D., said in a statement that the firm is thrilled to provide its rabbit-based in vivo platform to Genmab. “Genmab’s antibody format technologies, the DuoBody and HexaBody platforms, combined with our antibody discovery platform could lead to the discovery of best-in-class therapeutic antibodies,” he added.