Kymab signs bispecific antibody agreement with EpimAb

Partners combine complementary bisepcific antibody technologies to create novel treatments for severe human diseases

The parties will focus their efforts on immuno-oncology and will combine antibodies sourced from Kymab's proprietary Kymouse™ platform with EpimAb's proprietary Fabs-In-Tandem Immunoglobulin (FIT-Ig™) platform to generate multiple bispecific antibodies. Kymab will have the development and commercialisation rights to these bispecifics in all geographical regions outside of China, and, under the terms of the cross-license agreement, EpimAb will have the rights to the China market. Each party is eligible to receive milestone payments and royalties for development programmes pursued by the other party.

"Bispecific antibodies have enormous potential to exploit our growing molecular and cellular understanding of the tumour microenvironment as it relates to immuno-oncology," says Dr. David Chiswell, CEO of Kymab. "This agreement provides new opportunities to realise genuinely synergistic therapeutic activities and our collaboration with EpimAb will allow us to generate innovative bispecific molecules based on parental antibodies from our Kymouse platform quickly and efficiently."

"Our agreement with Kymab represents our first license agreement outside of China and we are looking forward to combining our complementary antibody technologies to create novel treatments for severe human diseases," says Dr. Chengbin Wu, CEO and Founder of EpimAb. "Kymab's expertise in generating world class antibodies specifically in the immuno-oncology area is a perfect strategic fit for EpimAb. The candidates from this collaboration will significantly strengthen EpimAb’s proprietary pipeline with highly innovative molecules."

EpimAb’s innovative FIT-Ig technology offers a novel approach for generating bispecific antibodies, with the resulting molecules fully retaining the biological properties of their parental monoclonal antibodies without the need to significantly modify the basic structural elements of the bispecific antibody. FIT-Ig molecules generated to date have demonstrated excellent biological and pharmacological characteristics, as well as excellent physical-chemical properties. The combination of the Kymouse human antibody discovery platform with the FIT-Ig technology will assure the highest probability of finding the best-in-class bispecific antibodies with highly attractive drug properties.

Issued Cambridge, UK and Shanghai, China: 11 October, 2016

About Kymab
Kymab is a leading biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of fully human monoclonal antibody drugs using its proprietary Kymouse antibody platform.

Kymouse has been designed to maximise the diversity of human antibodies produced in response to immunisation with antigens. Selecting from a broad diversity of fully human antibodies assures the highest probability of finding that rare drug candidate with best-in-class characteristics. The Kymouse naturally matures these molecules to highly potent drugs, obviating the need for further time-consuming modifications. Kymab is using the platform for its internal drug discovery programmes and in partnership with pharmaceutical companies.

Kymab commenced operations in 2010 and has raised over US$120m of equity financing which includes $90m Series B financing. It was founded by Professor Allan Bradley, who is the Chief Technology Officer, and has an experienced management team with a successful track record in drug discovery and development and has numerous therapeutic antibody programmes in immuno-oncology, auto-immunity, haematology, infectious disease and other areas.
http://www.kymab.com

About EpimAb Biotherapeutics, Inc.
EpimAb Biotherapeutics is a privately owned biopharmaceutical R&D company based in Shanghai with a proprietary unique and efficient technology called FIT-Ig (Fabs-In-Tandem Immunoglobulin) to generate bispecific molecules with antibody-like properties. With this platform EpimAb is creating a pipeline of its own novel bispecific antibody therapeutics focused around immuno-oncology and other areas of high value to patients. EpimAb is also committed to diversifying its pipeline through selective licensing of its platform to partners worldwide.  For further information, please visit www.epimab.com

FIT-Ig™ is a trademark of EpimAb Biotherapeutics, Inc.
Kymouse™ and Kymab are trademarks of Kymab Limited.

*******

For further information contact:

Kymab
David Chiswell, Chief Executive Officer
Anne Hyland, Chief Financial Officer
Direct: +44 (0)1223 833 301
Email: anne.hyland@kymab.com

Hume Brophy
Mary Clark, Supriya Mathur and Hollie Vile
Direct: +44 (0)207 862 6390
Email: kymab@humebrophy.com

EpimAb Biotherapeutics
Dr. Stephan Lensky, COO/CBO
Direct: +49 152 2610 7621
E-mail: Stephan.lensky@epimab.com

MacDougall Biomedical Communications
Mario Brkulj or Dr. Stephanie May Main
Direct: +49 175 5010575 or +49 175 5711562
E-mail: mbrkulj@macbiocom.com
_________________________________________________________