OCS Grants Immune $1 M

IMMUNE Pharmaceuticals announced that the Office of the Chief Scientist (OCS) granted US$1 million (NIS 3.8M) to support two drug development programs: — US$605,000 (NIS 2.3M) for Antibody Nanoparticle Conjugates platform (“NanoMabs”) — US$395,000 (NIS 1.5M) for Phase II clinical trials with Bertilimumab The NanoMabs product development platform is a second generation Antibody Drug Conjugate technology licensed by IMMUNE Pharmaceuticals from Yissum, the Technology Transfer arm of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. NanoMabs link monoclonal antibodies and drug-loaded nanoparticles, allowing for their targeted delivery into cancer cells. Bertilimumab is a first-in-class fully human monoclonal antibody that neutralizes human eotaxin-1, a chemokine that attracts inflammatory cells, eosinophils and regulates inflammation. Patient studies have revealed an association between eosinophils and the initiation of mucosal injury and clinical relapse in Ulcerative Colitis (UC) and Crohn’s disease and provide strong rationale for the use of Bertilimumab for the treatment of these diseases. IMMUNE Pharmaceuticals is planning to start a phase II clinical trial in patients with moderate to severely active UC in 2012. IMMUNE Pharmaceuticals is an Israel and U.S. based biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of next generation monoclonal antibodies addressing significant unmet medical needs in the treatment of inflammatory diseases and cancer. IMMUNE Pharmaceuticals has built a robust pipeline of clinical and pre-clinical candidates based on novel targets and best-in-class antibody technologies. IMMUNE licensed worldwide rights for systemic indications of Bertilimumab from iCo Therapeutics CA:ICO -9.59% in June 2011, while iCo retained rights to all ophthalmic indications. iCo originally licensed the exclusive world-wide rights to Bertilimumab in 2006 from MedImmune Limited (formerly known as Cambridge Antibody Technology Limited), the Global Biologics Arm of AstraZeneca.