MabVax Therapeutics Holdings entered agreements with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) and Juno Therapeutics for the development of therapeutic products using antibody targeting sequences derived from the fully-human antibodies discovered using its antibody discovery platform.
In its agreement with MSKCC, MabVax will supply unique targeting sequences from the fully-human antibodies to the cancer center. Following the agreement with MSKCC, researchers at the center will conduct the early-stage research and development of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapeutics using the MabVax antibody sequences. Both will be tested in vitro and in animal models with the objective of producing anti-cancer therapeutics targeting certain solid tumors.
MabVax and Juno entered into an exclusive option agreement giving Juno the right to negotiate a license agreement for exclusive rights to any CAR T-cell therapeutic products using the antibody sequences provided to MSKCC.
In May, MabVax acquired Telik to form a single cancer drug developer to focus on the development of immunotherapy-based products to diagnose and treat cancer. MabVax’ pipeline includes vaccine candidates for sarcoma, ovarian cancer, and neuroblastoma. MabVax exclusively licenses its vaccine candidates from MSKCC, where the experimental therapies were developed.
