Abbott and Caprion extend antibody discovery partnership

Abbott has announced that it has extended its collaboration agreement with Caprion Proteomics – a wholly-owned subsidiary partnership of Thallion Pharmaceuticals – for the discovery human therapeutic oncology antibody targets.

Originally set up three years ago, under the terms of the extended agreement, Abbott will continue to use the CellCarta technology platform from Caprion to investigate potential targets, with Abbott to keep the exclusive rights for ten lung cancer targets for a two year period.

The CellCarta technology platform uses quantitative proteomics together with unique cell fractionation and human lung cancer tissues. The financial terms of this extended collaboration have not been made public.

Stephen Fesik, vice-president of cancer research at Abbott, said: “The collaboration with Caprion fits our strategy to extend Abbott’s portfolio with novel therapies in areas of high unmet clinical need.”

He added that, since its inception, this agreement has seen the identification of a number of possible oncology antibody targets, while the extension to this partnership will give Abbott the necessary time to conduct pre-clinical assessments of these ten targets.

Earlier this month, Abbott reported that the general public believe that scientists are in the ascendancy in attempts to fight cancer, with 64 per cent believing the “war” against the disease is being won.