VETIGENICS Announces Discovery Collaboration With Merck Animal Health

PHILADELPHIA, Nov. 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- VETIGENICS, an animal health biotechnology company, today announced that it is extending its discovery collaboration with Merck Animal Health, a division of Merck & Co., Inc. for use of the VETIGENICS CANIBODY™ Platform to discover and develop novel therapeutic antibodies to treat chronic diseases of companion animals. The collaboration provides Merck Animal Health with multiple unique therapeutic candidates that could transform the way veterinarians treat a range of diseases in animals quickly and effectively.

"VETIGENICS is thrilled that Merck Animal Health has expressed confidence in VETIGENICS' CANIBODY Platform for the discovery of novel, entirely canine, antibody-based therapeutics," said Adriann Sax, CEO and Co-founder of VETIGENICS. "With our platform's highly differentiated qualities, most notably the complete species-specific antibody repertoire as well as the speed in which we can isolate high-value drug candidates, we are confident that combining the power of our platform with Merck Animal Health's exceptional development and commercialization capabilities will result in superior therapeutic antibodies to treat companion animals."

VETIGENICS' best-in-class entirely canine phage display platform offers distinct advantages over other approaches. Designed for dogs, by dogs, it's a proprietary technology that generates single chain variable fragments (scFvs) or CANIBODIES, which are isolated from actual dog genetic material and 100 percent canine in structure. Unique and precisely targeted, the technology eliminates the risk for immune response and allows for therapeutic versatility. And, unlike other technologies, validation of the target-specific binding for CANIBODIES occurs in the first step of development, which can help reduce overall R&D cost. VETIGENICS has built a portfolio of CANIBODY immunomodulators in various stages of production and testing to treat cancer, infections and immune-mediated chronic diseases.

About VETIGENICS, LLC
VETIGENICS is a privately held animal health biopharmaceutical company committed to improving canine health through the development of entirely canine, safe and effective antibody-based immunotherapies to treat chronic diseases of companion animals. The company's founders, Nicola Mason, BVetMed, PhD, and Don Siegel MD, PhD, of the University of Pennsylvania, are internationally recognized leaders in veterinary medicine, immunotherapy, and phage display technology. Their complementary expertise naturally resulted in an unrivalled ability to generate and validate entirely canine antibodies for therapeutic and diagnostic purposes. For more information, visit www.vetigenics.com and connect with us on LinkedIn.

SOURCE VETIGENICS, LLC

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