On October 24, 2017 MabVax Therapeutics Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: MBVX), a clinical-stage biotechnology company with a fully human antibody discovery platform focused on the development of antibody-based products to address unmet medical needs in the treatment of cancer, reported that the Company has filed a patent application for its series of HuMab-Tn fully-human monoclonal antibodies that target the tumor associated Thomsen-nouveau (Tn) antigen that will be developed as therapeutic and diagnostic products targeting ovarian, lung and breast cancers (Press release, MabVax, OCT 24, 2017, View Source [SID1234521277]). The Tn target is a carbohydrate antigen significantly expressed on the surface of cancer cells as a result of the transformation of normal cells into cancer cells. The Tn target is present on a broad array of tumor types but not found on normal tissues. This patent represents another valuable antibody asset brought forward by MabVax and the third patent filed on the antibody portfolio created through the Company’s unique discovery platform.
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The patent application covers the recovery of anti-Tn antibodies from patients who were vaccinated against their solid tumors with a vaccine that contained the Tn antigen. The discovery of fully human antibodies directly from vaccinated cancer patients is highly unique and has advantages including a potential for greater specificity and reducing the toxicities associated with non-human antibodies. The patent application also covers the additional work done by the Company’s antibody research and development team to optimize the recovered antibodies as well as detailing the resulting positive characteristics of the antibodies selected for patenting. The newly filed patent application, if issued by the U.S. Patent Office, will provide exclusivity for these antibodies until 2038.
“The filing of this patent is an important component of our broad strategy in expanding our robust patent estate. Importantly, this filing is timely as we look to select additional product candidates to fuel our pipeline that have the potential to address significant unmet therapeutic needs,” stated David Hansen, MabVax’s President and Chief Executive Officer.
The Company has demonstrated its ability to translate these discoveries through preclinical development and into clinical development with its HuMab-5B1 program, currently being evaluated in Phase 1 clinical trials as a therapeutic agent, an immunoPET diagnostic agent, and as a radioimmunotherapy (“RIT”). The Company envisions that the HuMab-Tn antibody portfolio has similar applicability, including as a bi-specific antibody, as an antibody conjugated with a payload to form an antibody drug conjugate (“ADC”), with a radionuclide as an immunoPET imaging agent or with a radionuclide as a RIT product.