Tessa Therapeutics completes acquisition of biotech company Euchloe Bio
Immunotherapy company Tessa Therapeutics has completed the acquisition of biotech firm Euchloe Bio, which specialises in the treatment of cancer through developing and commercialising antibodies. Tessa Therapeutics’s virus-specific T-cell (VST) platform technology will be strengthened by the acquisition, which could extend the company’s speciality into a wider range of cancer treatments.
AsianScientist (Mar. 23, 2017) – Tessa Therapeutics, an immunotherapy company dedicated to revolutionizing the treatment of cancer, has acquired Euchloe Bio, a biotechnology company specializing in the development and commercialization of antibodies to treat cancer. Euchloe’s portfolio includes a number of highly potent checkpoint receptor antagonists and immune system agonists.

Since Euchloe Bio’s spin-out from the Agency for Science, Technology and Research’s Singapore Immunology Network (SIgN), the company has advanced several antibody drug candidates for clinical trials including its suite of checkpoint inhibitors (PD1, PDL1, CTLA4, Tim3 and Lag3 antibodies).

Euchloe has also developed a number of these projects in combination with Tessa’s virus specific T cell (VST) platform technology. Euchloe’s technologies show strong potential to increase the effectiveness of Tessa’s VST therapies and expand Tessa’s pipeline to a broader range of cancers. Euchloe is collaborating with Tessa on the development of next-generation chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) technologies that are expected to show high specificity and efficacy, for a superior safety profile.

Euchloe Bio has made significant progress in its antibody development program since Tessa’s initial investment in the company last year. The combination of the technologies and research & development capabilities of the two companies is expected to realize strong synergies. Euchloe’s focus will remain on the development and commercialization of antibodies as stand-alone and combination therapies, while research efforts will continue to be led by its founder, Dr. Wang Cheng-I.

“Tessa and Euchloe have worked closely together since Tessa’s initial investment last year. We are very excited by the progress of the Euchloe team, thus the full acquisition of Euchloe Bio was a natural next step for us. Euchloe’s capabilities will help us deepen our understanding and ability to modulate the complex immunological environment around solid tumors and further strengthen our clinical trial pipeline,” said Mr. Andrew Khoo, co-founder and CEO of Tessa Therapeutics.

———

Source: Tessa Therapeutics; Photo: Shutterstock.

Disclaimer: This article does not necessarily reflect the views of AsianScientist or its staff.