FairJourney Biologics enters next-generation antibody discovery collaboration with argenx

Porto, Portugal, and Cambridge and London, UK, 12 April 2021: FairJourney Biologics S.A (FJB) and IONTAS Limited (IONTAS), leaders in the discovery and optimisation of VHH fully human antibodies, today announced a collaboration with global immunology company, argenx to harness IONTAS’ proprietary mammalian display technology. The goal of the collaboration is to explore diverse panels of novel antibody candidates, with the potential to advance select candidates into the argenx discovery pipeline.

Under the terms of the agreement, FJB and IONTAS will provide argenx with access to IONTAS’ novel mammalian display technology, which can generate abundant therapeutic antibody leads, selecting for key attributes that may address the novel targets or pathways that argenx is exploring. The agreement will also provide a dedicated full-time FJB/IONTAS team assigned to the project.

FJB/IONTAS and argenx have highly complementary capabilities for identification of potential next-generation antibody candidates, including argenx’s pipeline of investigational immunology therapies aimed at improving the lives of people living with severe autoimmune diseases and cancer. Through its Immunology Innovation Program, argenx collaborates with leading researchers to translate immunology breakthroughs in disease biology into differentiated therapeutic antibodies.

Dr António Parada, CEO at FairJourney Biologics and IONTAS commented: “We have gained considerable experience in antibody discovery through mammalian display for use in generating therapeutics with specific properties.

Additionally, we continue to make improvements to the technology that will allow more diverse applications. We look forward to growing our relationship with argenx and applying our deep knowledge and experience to generate a diverse set of antibodies for potential immunological application.”

For further information on mammalian display technology, please visit: fjb.pt/_mammalian-display/

More within