Goodwin Biotechnology and OncoMax, a Maxwell Biotech Portfolio Company, Announce a "Bench-to-Clinic" Collaboration for an Important Advance in Oncology

PLANTATION, Fla. and MOSCOW, Jan. 3, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Goodwin Biotechnology, Inc. (GBI) and OncoMax, LLC, a Maxwell Biotech portfolio company, jointly announced an agreement for cell line engineering and manufacturing of a monoclonal antibody expressed in a mammalian cell line. The monoclonal antibody will be engineered by GBI's collaborative partner, and then GBI will evaluate the cell lines, select the highest producer and manufacture the monoclonal antibody for use and evaluation in clinical trials as a potential treatment for renal cell carcinoma.

"This is an exciting project for us," noted Muctarr Sesay, PhD, Vice President of Process Development at GBI. "It truly represents 'one-stop-shopping' for our clients because we can take a client's cDNA, engineer the cell line with the help of one of our collaborative partners, Rafagen, who will provide us with three stable, high-producing clones, then we'll evaluate the clones and select the highest producer, create a Research Cell Bank and start manufacturing the antibody of interest."

"Our drug candidate OM-RCA-001 is a humanized monoclonal antibody and establishing a high producing cell line and creating a cell bank is one of the key stages of the product's development. We are pleased to partner with GBI in this, since GBI is known for its high quality services in this line of work," said Nikolay Golub, PhD, Project Manager at Maxwell Biotech Group where OncoMax is a portfolio company. "OM-RCA-001 blocks a specific target of kidney tumor cells, affecting the mechanisms of tumor progression and resistance. If all the clinical trials are successful we will have a novel biopharmaceutical that can be prescribed both as first-line treatment and as treatment in the second and subsequent lines after failure of other types of targeted therapy." 

About Goodwin Biotechnology, Inc.
Goodwin Biotechnology is a fully integrated cGMP contract manufacturer of monoclonal antibodies, recombinant proteins and vaccines. GBI has the expertise and experience in cell line development, process development and GMP manufacturing of recombinant proteins and antibodies, as well as conjugated therapeutic proteins (e.g., antibodies conjugated to linkers for radioimmune therapy and diagnostics, other antibodies, proteins, chemotoxins, or plant toxins) by leveraging our proprietary conjugation technology. By working with GBI, our clients can enhance the value of their product candidates with clear development and manufacturing strategies and a road map to meet product requirements from the milligram, gram and kilogram range as the product candidates move along the clinical approval pathway. With nearly 20 years of experience as an independent contract manufacturer, GBI has worked with companies of all sizes from small university spin-offs to major research institutes, government agencies and large, established biopharmaceutical companies. For more information, please visit http://www.goodwinbio.com/.

About OncoMax LLC
OncoMax is a private biotechnological Russian company founded by Maxwell Biotech Group and funded by the Maxwell Biotech Venture Fund in 2010, a participant in the Technology Platform "Medicine of the Future" program and resident of the Skolkovo Innovation Center with a grant award from the Skolkovo Foundation. The mission of OncoMax is to develop and commercialize innovative therapies and diagnostics for oncology diseases. For more information, please visit: http://www.oncomax.com/.

About Maxwell Biotech Group
Maxwell Biotech Group (MBG) is a development partner and financial resource for biotechnology companies. MBG provides investment capital and access to an established infrastructure for conducting high-quality clinical trials in Russia, and helps enable the rapid and cost-effective achievement of clinical objectives, relying on an experienced international team of managers and financial and industry experts, with offices in Moscow, Boston and San Diego.

MBG is investing in product development companies specializing in selected therapeutic and medical device categories. To date, MBG has established the portfolio companies of OncoMax (oncology), NeuroMax (CNS), MetaMax (oncology & metabolic diseases), Infectex (infectious diseases), CardioNova (cardiovascular diseases) and Photonics (novel lasers for medicine and dentistry). Products in these companies originated either from Russian scientists or were licensed for commercialization in Russia from international biopharma companies. For more information, please visit http://www.maxwellbio.com/.

For more information, please contact:

SOURCE Goodwin Biotechnology, Inc.