Kindred Bio and X-Body Announce an Exclusive Collaboration for Discovery of Antibodies for Companion Animal Health

SAN FRANCISCO and WALTHAM, Mass., March 31, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Kindred Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: KIN) and X-Body Biosciences (X-Body) jointly announced today an exclusive alliance in which X-Body will discover fully canine, feline, and equine antibodies for companion animal health, and Kindred Bio will develop and commercialize these antibodies.  Kindred Bio will provide an upfront payment, research funding, milestones, and royalties, and X-Body will exclusively license these antibodies to Kindred Bio.

X-Body will use its proprietary DNA-antibody technology and live cell functional selection technology to generate therapeutic antibodies and Kindred Bio will develop these antibodies to address unmet medical needs in companion animal health.

X-Body's antibody technology is based on a method of linking an antibody to its gene, combined with a cell-free mammalian translational system, allowing rapid generation and screening of antibodies, as well as identification of bispecific antibodies. Its live cell selection technology can identify antibodies against membrane-bound targets.

"We are excited to license X-Body's ability to generate fully species-specific antibodies to chosen targets," stated Richard Chin, Chief Executive Officer of Kindred Bio.

"We are very pleased to enter into this exclusive collaboration to discover antibodies using our proprietary technology for Kindred Bio in companion animal health.  It is rewarding to be able to help address challenging problems for animals, as well as for humans," said Yan Chen, Senior Vice President of R&D at X-Body.

About Kindred Biosciences

Kindred Biosciences is a development stage biopharmaceutical company focused on saving and improving the lives of pets. Its mission is to bring to pets the same kinds of safe and effective medicines that human family members enjoy. The Company's strategy is to identify compounds and targets that have already demonstrated safety and efficacy in humans and to develop therapeutics based on these validated compounds and targets for dogs, cats and horses. The Company's lead product candidates are CereKin™ (diacerein) for the treatment of osteoarthritis pain and inflammation in dogs, AtoKin™ (fexofenadine) for the treatment of atopic dermatitis in dogs, and SentiKin™ (flupirtine) for the treatment of post-operative pain in dogs.

About X-Body Biosciences

X-Body creates therapeutic antibodies against a wide variety of useful drug targets, and is primarily focused on integral membrane proteins, such as GPCRs, ion channels, and transporters.  X-Body's live cell functional selections also allow it to pursue target discovery for a number of disease indications, including inflammation and oncology.  X-Body is collaborating with leading biotech and pharmaceutical companies to progress its platform and its compounds.  X-Body also generates antibodies internally, and has programs focused in oncology, ophthalmology, and metabolic diseases.  X-Body is headquartered in Waltham, MA. For more information, please visit www.x-bodybiosciences.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

Forward-looking statements in this news release involve inherent risks and uncertainties, and a number of important factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in such forward-looking statements. These factors include, but are not limited to, uncertainties inherent in animal drug development and the regulatory review process and other risks described in Kindred Bio's Annual Report on Form 10-K filed on March 14, 2014 with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Kindred Bio undertakes no obligation to publicly release the result of any revisions to these forward-looking statements that may be made to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this news release.

Media Contacts:
For Kindred Bio:
Denise Bevers
[email protected]
650-701-7909

For X-Body:
Brant Binder
[email protected]
781-419-6917

SOURCE Kindred Biosciences, Inc.