For Domain Therapeutics, this collaboration aims at diversifying its proprietary portfolio of immunotherapies with biologics to deliver therapeutic solutions against tumors triggering GPCR-mediated immunosuppression. Under the terms of the agreement, Domain Therapeutics retains exclusive worldwide rights to validate, optimize, develop and commercialize any therapeutic antibodies discovered in the course of the collaboration.

For SYnAbs, the goal is to further optimize its technologies capable of generating highly specific antibodies targeting epitopes that are difficult to express in their native and functionally active conformation.

SYnAbs approach consists in immunizing species with peptides and its proprietary syngeneic cell lines, all mixed with its in-house adjuvant in order to neutralize the immunotolerance usually developed against highly homologous transmembrane targets and benefit from a natural in-vivo maturation.

SYnAbs is also the developer of the rat-LOU species, a species known to be a high responder against haptens and which has the unique ability to naturally generate autoantibodies. This animal is already the source of several therapeutic antibodies such as Siplizumab (licensed to MedImmune, Phase III), LO-CD2b (Preclinical Tox), LO-TACT-1, anti-CD25 (Phase I/II) and more recently SYnC3aR, a blocking mAb to hC3aR anaphylatoxin receptor.

Under the terms of the agreement, SYnAbs will utilize its know-how and proprietary technologies combined with Domain Therapeutics deep expertise in GPCRs and immuno-oncology to identify novel high-potential drug candidates. Domain will be responsible for the preclinical and clinical development of the jointly discovered antibodies and for a potential partnership with a third party company according to Domain Therapeutics strategy.

About SynAbs

SYnAbs was founded in 2015 as a Belgian spin-off of the Catholic University of Louvain (UCL), based on the work of Prof. Hervé Bazin, the inventor of the world's first rat-LOU myeloma cell line. SYnAbs' vision is to fill the gap on the marketplace for innovative monoclonal antibodies against poor immunogenic compounds and complex homologous antigens. Targeting transmembrane proteins, steroids, small molecules, toxins, lipids and polysaccharides, SYnAbs has developed a strong expertise in immunology to break immunotolerance in rat-LOU species to generate unique monoclonal antibodies of extreme specificity and higher affinity.