VERAXA Biotech and Navigo Proteins Initiate Research Collaboration to Establish Pre-Targeting Strategies for Novel Affilin Radio Conjugates
The agreement brings together Navigo Protein’s Affilin® platform with VERAXA’s proprietary click chemistry platform and conjugation expertise
HEIDELBERG, and HALLE, Germany, December 12, 2024 — VERAXA Biotech AG, an emerging leader in designing novel cancer therapies, and Navigo Proteins GmbH, an innovator developing next-generation targeted radiotheranostics, announced today the initiation of a research collaboration to evaluate a novel approach for precisely diagnosing and treating challenging cancers while reducing damage to healthy tissues using radioimmunoconjugates (RICs). The agreement brings together Navigo Protein’s Affilin® platform capable of providing highly specific targeted radiotheranostics with VERAXA’s proprietary click chemistry platform and conjugation expertise.
Dr. Ulrich Haupts, CSO and Managing Director at Navigo Proteins, commented: “Today’s research alliance with VERAXA aims to evaluate a novel strategy for the use of our Affilin® platform in Theranostics. Affilin® ligands strike a well-defined balance between being of smaller size to increase tumor penetration, while exhibiting a longer half-life compared to shorter peptides used elsewhere in the industry. Taken together, our joint capabilities and platforms could deliver a series of next-generation radiopharmaceutical compounds by incorporating a novel pre-targeting strategy.”
“While VERAXA is focused on developing ADCs and bispecific T cell engagers, collaborating with Navigo Proteins in radioimmunoconjugates provides an ideal platform to showcase the capabilities of our technology suite across different anti-cancer strategies,” commented Christoph Antz, Ph.D., CEO and Co-Founder of VERAXA. “The fact that our platform features one of the fastest click-chemistry reactions on the market has significance in the pre-targeting setting. The speed of the in vivo conjugation step, maximum and stable saturation of the tumor-bound Affilins® and rapid clearance of the excess radioligand are essential success factors for such therapies.”
Pre-targeting strategies rely on separate injection of a tumor-targeting agent and subsequent delivery of a radioactive payload. In the collaboration announced today, Affilin® molecules selected by Navigo Proteins against tumor-associated antigens would be administered in the first step. VERAXA’s patented trans-cyclooctene (TCO)-based bioorthogonal click chemistry technology would then be applied to facilitate the in vivo conjugation step of the radioligand to the Affilin® via a secondary binding site. Using such a two-component system has the potential to enhance the targeting of cancer cells by delivering targeted radiation directly to the tumor, while minimizing the exposure of healthy tissues to radiation.
+++ Meet the VERAXA team during the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Week in San Francisco, CA, USA, January 13-16, 2025, to learn more about future collaboration and investment opportunities +++
About VERAXABiotech
At VERAXA Biotech, we strive to establish the premiere drug discovery and development engine for antibody drug conjugates and other novel antibody-based therapy concepts. Wielding a suite of transformative technology innovations and applying thorough quality-by-design principles in drug discovery, we are accelerating our pipeline of antibody drug conjugates and our novel BiTAC antibody formats into and through clinical development. VERAXA Biotech originates from scientific discoveries made at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), a world-leading institute for life science research and ground-breaking enabling technologies. For more information, please visit www.veraxa.com.
About Navigo Proteins
Navigo Proteins is a fast-growing biopharmaceutical company focused on Precision Medicine and particularly next generation radiotheranostics based on using its proprietary Affilin® platform. Affilins® are novel target-binding proteins, combining the advantages of antibodies and peptides. Easily customizable as mono-, bi-, or multi-specific ligands, Affilins® can be coupled to radioactive isotopes and cytotoxic payloads for potent anti-cancer therapeutics against Tumor Associated Antigens (TAAs) and immuno-oncology (I/O) targets.
Our growing Affilin® portfolio, backed by unique pre-clinical data, tackles key challenges in targeted therapeutics, achieving exceptional tumor-specific accumulation and favorable biodistribution. Collaborations in the Radiopharmaceutical industry with strong players like ITM, as well as in-house programs, drive the development of Affilins® for targeted radioligand therapy and imaging.
Our ultimate aim at Navigo Proteins is to deliver best-in-class therapies and lifesaving products to patients faster. The high modularity of the Navigo platform allows faster innovation cycles, building on proven and tested components.
For more information, visit https://www.navigo-proteins.com and follow Navigo Proteins on LinkedIn.
Affilin® is a registered trademark of Navigo Proteins GmbH.
