Therapy Areas: Infectious Diseases
Hookipa and DarwinHealth Enter into a Research Collaboration and License Agreement to Discover and Prioritize Novel Immunogenic, Tumor-Specific Cryptic Antigens
30 November 2018 - - US and Austria-based clinical stage biopharmaceutical company Hookipa Pharma Inc. has entered into a research collaboration and license agreement with DarwinHealth to develop novel immunotherapies based on the systematic discovery and prioritization of the next generation of immunogenic, tumor-specific cryptic antigens, the company said.

DarwinHealth is a precision-focused cancer medicine company, utilising systems-biology derived algorithms to identify appropriate therapies for cancer patients and to systematically discover and prioritize the next generation of immunogenic, tumor-specific antigens.

Under the terms of the agreement, DarwinHealth will utilize a combined single-cell transcriptome analysis and bioinformatics-based approach using both mouse and human cancerous and non-cancerous tissues to identify the next generation of shared "off-the-shelf" tumor-specific antigens.

Hookipa will perform the validation experiments and be granted exclusive rights to the development, manufacturing and commercialization of products arising from the collaboration.

Hookipa Pharma is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing a new class of immuno-therapeutics targeting infectious diseases and cancers based on its proprietary technology platform that is designed to reprogram the body's immune system.

Its proprietary arenavirus-based technologies, Vaxwave, a replication-deficient viral vector, and TheraT, a replication-attenuated viral vector, are designed to induce potent antigen specific CD8+ T cells and pathogen-neutralizing antibodies.

Both, Vaxwave and TheraT, are designed to allow for repeat administration while maintaining an immune response.

TheraT has the potential to induce CD8+ T cell response levels previously not achieved by other immuno-therapy approaches. Our "off-the-shelf" viral vectors target dendritic cells in vivo to activate the immune system.

The company has successfully completed a Phase 1 trial of a Vaxwave-based prophylactic vaccine to protect against cytomegalovirus infections. It has initiated enrollment for a Phase 2 trial in cytomegalovirus-negative patients awaiting kidney transplantation from cytomegalovirus-positive donors.

To expand its infectious disease portfolio, the company as forged a partnership with Gilead Sciences, Inc. to jointly research and develop functional cures for HIV and Hepatitis B infections. The company is building a proprietary immuno-oncology pipeline by targeting TheraT towards virally mediated cancer antigens, self-antigens and next-generation antigens.
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