AbSci Enters Biologics Development Collaboration with Xyphos Biosciences, an Astellas Company

VANCOUVER, Wash., Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- AbSci, a pioneering synthetic biology company enabling drug discovery and biomanufacturing of next-generation biotherapeutics, today announced that it has partnered with Xyphos Biosciences, an Astellas Company, to screen and identify a variant of Xyphos' MicAbody™ lead candidate for optimal manufacturing cell line development. The MicAbody is a bispecific antibody-like adaptor molecule critical for Xyphos' program in immuno-oncology. The agreement between the companies calls for AbSci to employ its Protein Printing™ technology to inform selection of optimal variant MicAbody candidates and a custom E. coli SoluPro^® production strain for further potential development and cGMP manufacturing.

AbSci founder & CEO Sean McClain commented, "We are pleased to expand our relationship with Xyphos to include AbSci's discovery capabilities, and we look forward to continuing our partnership as Xyphos and Astellas advance development of molecules manufactured using our Protein Printing platform."

Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

About AbSci
AbSci is a leading synthetic biology company that translates ideas into drugs with a revolutionary platform technology that reinvents the biopharmaceutical drug discovery process. Our patented SoluPro^® E. coli expression system and Protein Printing™ platform, informed by our deep learning Denovium Engine™, enable simultaneous creation of novel biotherapeutic drugs and the cell lines to manufacture them in a single efficient process. In one workflow, we select cell lines producing drug candidates with optimal target potency and affinity as well as high-titer expression. Starting with a known drug sequence or with a target for novel drug discovery, our approach dramatically reduces biopharma discovery and development timelines from years to weeks by generating a GMP-ready manufacturing cell line for each asset. We specialize in next-generation biologics built on complex protein scaffolds, which have proven challenging for others to produce. With more than a dozen partnerships in place with top pharma and industry leaders, our collaborations include projects for 28 drugs and drug candidates that range across multiple protein types and therapeutic functionality. For more information, please visit https://www.absci.com.

About Xyphos Biosciences, Inc., an Astellas Company.
Xyphos Biosciences, Inc., located at South San Francisco, Calif., is a wholly owned subsidiary of Astellas featuring ACCELTM technology, a technology platform for CAR (chimeric antigen receptor) - immune cell therapy. ACCEL™ technology is based on the fusion of receptor-expressing immune cells such as natural killer (NK) cells and T cells (convertibleCAR^® cells) with antibodies that recognize cancer antigens, the target of attack. The technology is based on the administration of an antibody-ligand fusion protein (MicAbody), which is a fusion of an antibody and a ligand protein. By replacing or using multiple MicAbodies according to the characteristics of the cancer cells to be attacked, convertibleCAR^® cells can recognize different cancer antigens or multiple cancer antigens and attack various cancer cells. Xyphos Biosciences was launched in 2017, and the Company was acquired by Astellas Pharma in December of 2019. For more information about the Company, please visit www.xyphosinc.com.

About Astellas
Astellas Pharma Inc. is a pharmaceutical company conducting business in more than 70 countries around the world. We are promoting the Focus Area Approach that is designed to identify opportunities for the continuous creation of new drugs to address diseases with high unmet medical needs by focusing on Biology and Modality. Furthermore, we are also looking beyond our foundational Rx focus to create Rx+^® healthcare solutions that combine our expertise and knowledge with cutting-edge technology in different fields of external partners. Through these efforts, Astellas stands on the forefront of healthcare change to turn innovative science into value for patients. For more information, please visit our website at https://www.astellas.com/en.

SOURCE AbSci

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