X-BODY BioSciences Enters Into R&D Partnership With Tanabe Research Labs to Generate Antibody Therapeutics for Autoimmune Disorders

WALTHAM, Mass., Oct. 4, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- X-BODY, Inc., a developer of monoclonal antibody therapeutics, today announced a partnership with Tanabe Research Laboratories U.S.A., Inc. (TRL). The companies will collaborate to identify therapeutic target epitopes and develop monospecific and/or bispecific antibodies to the identified therapeutic targets.

X-BODY has developed an extremely diverse human antibody library and screens it using the company's proprietary Protein Chain Reaction™. A unique feature of the platform is that it allows for screening against cell surface targets in their native state on live cells or purified target proteins. X-BODY's deep sequencing hit analysis identifies and characterizes rare antibodies with the desired therapeutic properties.

Under the terms of the Agreement between TRL and X-BODY, X-BODY will screen its proprietary libraries against target cells of therapeutic interest to TRL to identify tissue specific epitopes and human antibody therapeutic candidates. TRL will fund the collaboration. TRL has the option to negotiate rights to the antibodies discovered in the collaboration for further pre-clinical research, clinical development, and commercialization.

Roland Newman, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer of TRL, commented, "X-Body's technology represents a major step forward in the ability to rapidly generate thousands of human antibodies against functionally relevant targets. The power and versatility of X-Body's platform in generating antibodies against targets that are inaccessible by conventional techniques offers new and exciting prospects. We are looking forward to a positive and productive relationship with X-Body."

"The TRL team is focused on developing innovative biologics targeting autoimmune diseases and X-BODY is excited about collaborating with TRL to develop antibody therapeutics," said Tod Woolf, Ph.D., Chief Business Officer of X-BODY. "We are gratified to announce this third partnership since the public launch of our platform at IBC's Antibody Engineering Conference last December," added Dr. Woolf.

About TRL:

TRL is an independent subsidiary of Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation whose role is to discover and develop potential biological drug candidates for therapy in autoimmune diseases. Currently, TRL's efforts will be directed towards antibody and antibody related research to target specific immune cells and soluble factors, as well as investigating new methods for modulating immune cell functions. TRL is establishing collaborative relationships with other companies and academic research organizations to further its goals of identifying lead preclinical compounds for further development and to consolidate its presence in immunology. http://www.trlusa.com/

About Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation.

Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation is a research-driven pharmaceutical company based in Japan, specializing in research, development and marketing of globally competitive pharmaceutical products focused on the immune and inflammatory field, and the metabolism and cardiovascular field. Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma contributes to the healthier lives of people around the world through the creation of pharmaceuticals.
http://www.mt-pharma.co.jp/e

About X-BODY, Inc.

X-BODY BioSciences was founded in 2008 by Richard Wagner, Ph.D., Gordon Binder, and Brant Binder. 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. The modular leads generated by X-BODY's platform can be incorporated into V(H) domain, scFv, IgG and bispecific antibody formats. X-BODY has employed the platform internally to identify high-affinity therapeutic candidates to block neovascularization that causes age-related macular degeneration. http://www.x-bodybiosciences.com

SOURCE X-BODY BioSciences