X-BODY BioSciences Awarded Grant for Therapeutic Discovery Project Targeting Metastatic Tumor Stem Cells

WALTHAM, Mass., Nov. 1, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- X-BODY BioSciences, a developer of human monoclonal antibody therapeutics, today announced it has been awarded a research grant under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 for its human monoclonal antibody therapeutic project targeting metastatic tumor stem cells.  The grant was awarded by the US Department of the Treasury and reviewed by scientists at the Department of Health and Human Services.  This grant provides X-BODY with the maximum allowable 50% reimbursement of X-BODY's qualified investment of ~$500,000 in this project.

X-BODY's therapeutic candidates target a kinase signaling pathway that is believed to mediate metastasis (invasion and spreading) of cancer tumor initiating stem cells. There is no selective inhibitor of this targeted pathway on the market. Targeting tumor-initiating cells via this pathway alone or with combination therapy may prevent metastasis in the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer and other solid tumors.  Non-small cell lung cancer is a very common cancer with an 11-14% five-year survival rate and causes ~1.4 million yearly deaths globally.

X-BODY's pre-clinical candidates were discovered using X-BODY's proprietary platform, based on innovative screening technology allowing for rapid generation of human antibody therapeutics of high affinity and selectivity, via deep sequence interrogation of fully human DNA libraries.    

About X-BODY BioSciences.

X-BODY BioSciences was founded in 2008 by Richard Wagner, Ph.D., Gordon Binder, and Brant Binder, MBA.   Dr. Wagner previously co-developed the fibronectin domain antibody-mimetic platform at Phylos, later acquired by Bristol Myers Squibb, and the DirectSelect small molecule library screening system at Praecis Pharmaceuticals, acquired by GlaxoSmithKline in 2007.  Mr. Gordon Binder is the former CEO and Chairman of Amgen and member of the boards of the American Enterprise Institute, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the California Institute of Technology. Mr. Brant Binder is co-founder, COO and CFO of SRU Biosystems.  X-BODY's platform enables rapid discovery of human antibody therapeutics by interrogation of extraordinarily diverse fully human libraries.  X-BODY's versatile selection system employs Next Generation sequencing to analyze thousands of hits in order to rapidly obtain high quality leads. X-BODY has employed the platform internally to identify high-affinity therapeutic candidates that target metastasis (invasion and spreading) of cancer stem cells.

Further information regarding X-BODY BioSciences can be obtained at:

WEB: www.x-bodybiosciences.com  

SOURCE X-BODY BioSciences