Halozyme will retain all rights to conditionally active biologics against new and existing targets.

BioAtla is teaming up with Halozyme Therapeutics to develop high-throughput recombinant screening libraries against a range of targets in oncology, aesthetic dermatology, and inflammation. Under the initial three-year term of the contract, Halozyme will receive exclusive, worldwide commercial rights to resulting conditionally active biologics (CABs).

The companies aim to generate novel CABs that interact with targets under specific predefined conditions in vivo. Halozyme will exploit its expertise in extracelluar matrix and the targeting of tissue microenvironments to identify, generate, and develop biologics against novel and existing targets. BioAlta will use its gene-synthesis and high-throughput expression screening capabilities for library generation and the screening of protein analogs with evolved specificity and activity.

Halozyme is focused on developing and commercializing products targeting the extracellular matrix for applications in endocrinology, oncology, dermatology, and drug delivery. The company’s portfolio of products and pipeline of candidates is based on IP covering the human hyaluronidase enzyme family and additional enzymes that affect the extracellular matrix. The company is employing its Enhanze™ Technology, a drug delivery-platform that uses the enzyme rHuPH20, for the development of products both in house and through industry partnerships.

In October 2009, Halozyme and Roche started patient dosing in a Phase III trial using the Enhanze technology in a subcutaneous formulation with Roche’s anticancer biologic Herceptin.

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