ImaginAb, Inc. Concludes Licensing Agreement With UCLA for Novel Radiochemistry Technology

LOS ANGELES, April 18, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- ImaginAb, Inc. and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) have concluded a technology licensing agreement relating to novel fluorine chemistry for the rapid and robust labeling of proteins, peptides and biomolecules for diagnostic imaging with Positron Emission Tomography (PET).

"We are pleased that ImaginAb has expanded its technology portfolio and recognized the cutting-edge work being developed by the Crump Institute," said Dr. Claire Wake, Director, at the university's Office of Intellectual Property and Industry Sponsored Research (OIP-ISR).

"UCLA is truly a world leader in technologies related to PET, from Molecular and Medical Pharmacology department chair Dr. Michael Phelps' pioneering of the field some thirty years ago to the incredible multi-disciplinary innovation occurring there today," said Dr. Christian Behrenbruch, CEO of ImaginAb. "This technology will become an important part of ImaginAb's strategy to combine the readily available and low-cost supply of F-18 from existing cyclotron networks with ImaginAb's rapid development of targeted molecular imaging agents based on antibody fragments and other small protein scaffolds."

The licensed technology originates from the UCLA's Crump Institute for Molecular Imaging through research sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy. The agreement grants exclusivity to ImaginAb for antibodies and antibody fragments.

About ImaginAb

Founded in 2007 by UCLA faculty members Dr. Robert Reiter, Professor of Urology and Molecular Biology, Dr. Anna Wu, Professor, Molecular & Medical Pharmacology and then-faculty member Dr. Behrenbruch, ImaginAb, Inc. is a biotechnology company specializing in the development of engineered antibody fragments for diagnostic imaging and novel therapeutic applications. The company has a significant pipeline of clinical products in development oriented towards unmet needs in cancer and immunology. ImaginAb is also developing a range of pre-clinical (animal imaging) reagents for use with microPET, microSPECT and optical imaging systems, and partners on a selective basis with biopharmaceutical companies with an interest in developing companion imaging agents for therapeutic antibody products. For more information about ImaginAb, visit www.imaginab.com.

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SOURCE ImaginAb, Inc.