Harbour BioMed Launches Élancé Therapeutics to Advance Next-Generation Obesity Therapies

- Élancé Therapeutics aims to improve current obesity treatment, specifically to increase overall body weight loss and fat mass loss, but preserve and even increase muscle and lean mass
- Élancé Therapeutics will leverage HCAb-based bispecific antibody technology to advance these next-generation therapies
- Élancé will refine and expand Hu-mAtrIx^TM AI platform to empower multiple bispecific antibody discovery programs

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., ROTTERDAM, Netherlands and SHANGHAI, March 12, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Harbour BioMed (HKEX: 02142), a global biopharmaceutical company committed to the discovery, development and commercialization of novel antibody therapeutics in immunology and oncology, today announced the launch of Élancé Therapeutics ("Élancé"). Harnessing Harbour BioMed's proprietary HCAb-based bispecific antibody technology, Élancé aims to develop innovative therapies addressing key challenges in current obesity treatment, including muscle preservation and long-term efficacy.

Obesity affects nearly one billion people worldwide and is associated with serious health complications, yet current treatments remain inadequate for many patients. Despite recent advancements, challenges such as limited efficacy, lean mass loss, and post-treatment weight regain highlight the need for novel approaches that offer sustained benefits and better clinical outcome.

To address these gaps, Élancé is building a pipeline of bispecific antibody programs designed to improve weight loss outcomes while preserving lean muscle mass. By integrating dual-targeting strategies with enhanced safety profiles, these therapies have the potential to complement and expand upon existing treatment options, including various agonists of GLP-1 receptor, GIP receptor, and GCG receptor.

Élancé's pipeline includes multiple bispecific antibody programs in preclinical development, each designed to offer innovative mechanisms of action, including targeted hormone modulation and enhanced metabolic regulation. These programs are supported by Harbour BioMed's validated HCAb-based bispecific antibody discovery platform, which has been successfully applied across multiple therapeutic areas. In addition, Élancé will refine and expand Nona Biosciences' Hu-mAtrIx^TM AI platform to support bispecific antibody discovery, with AI applications guiding antibody sequence discovery, enrichment, optimization, bispecific geometry design, and developability/immunogenicity/pharmacokinetics (PK) assessments, as well as patient biomarker studies.

"Our bispecific antibody programs enable a new paradigm in obesity treatment by targeting multiple pathways in a precise and effective manner," said Jingsong Wang, MD, PhD, Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Harbour BioMed. "With a focus on optimizing weight loss efficacy, preserving lean muscle mass, and improving long-term outcomes, we believe our approach has the potential to redefine obesity therapeutics."

About Harbour BioMed

Harbour BioMed (HKEX: 02142) is a global biopharmaceutical company committed to the discovery, development, and commercialization of novel antibody therapeutics focusing on immunology and oncology. The company is building its robust portfolio and differentiated pipeline through internal R&D capability, collaborations with co-discovery and co-development partners, and select acquisitions.

The proprietary antibody technology platform Harbour Mice^® generates fully human monoclonal antibodies in two heavy and two light chains (H2L2) format, as well as heavy chain only (HCAb) format. Building upon the HCAb antibodies, the HCAb-based immune cell engagers (HBICE^®) bispecific antibody technology is capable of delivering tumor-killing effects unachievable by traditional combination therapies. Integrating Harbour Mice^®, and HBICE^® with a single B cell cloning platform, our antibody discovery engine is highly unique and efficient for the development of next-generation therapeutic antibodies. For further information, please refer to www.harbourbiomed.com.

About Élancé Therapeutics

Élancé Therapeutics is a biotechnology company developing next-generation biologics for obesity treatment. Incubated by Harbour BioMed, Élancé Therapeutics leverages advanced bispecific antibody technology to address key challenges in obesity management, including limited efficacy, lean mass loss, and post-treatment weight regain. With a pipeline of innovative bispecific antibody programs targeting novel pathways, the company aims to provide effective and sustainable treatment solutions that complement existing obesity therapies.

SOURCE Harbour BioMed