Arana and Greenovation in anti-cancer co-development deal

Jun 2 2008

Arana Therapeutics Limited and Germany-based greenovation Biotech GmbH have entered into a collaborative agreement to develop next generation anti-cancer antibodies.

Arana and Greenovation will combine their respective technologies to develop up to five potent anti-cancer antibodies. The combination of these technologies is expected to lead to enhanced potency next generation antibodies and more effective anti-cancer therapies.

Arana will contribute its proprietary protein engineering technologies, SuperhumanizationTM and EvoGeneTM to generate optimised drug candidates. Greenovation will then utilise its Bryotechnolgy - a novel moss-based protein glycoengineering and production platform - to further optimise and produce the antibodies.

Dr. John Chiplin, CEO of Arana Therapeutics commented; "We are very excited about the synergy between Arana's and Greenovation's antibody engineering platforms, which together will provide the means to optimise therapeutic antibodies, leading to highly selective and potent drug candidates''.

Hans Bodo Hartmann, CEO of greenovation Biotech GmbH added: "We are very pleased with this collaboration. We consider the combination of the technologies of both companies to have great potential for the development and optimisation of next generation therapeutic antibodies."

"We are very pleased that our successful feasibility study with Arana has led to this collaboration agreement." he added.

Both companies share in the costs of development and commercialisation revenues.

About Arana Therapeutics:

Arana Therapeutics (ASX: AAH) is an international biopharmaceutical company which uses superior technology to develop next generation drugs that will improve the lives of patients with inflammatory diseases and cancer.

Arana Therapeutics' innovative engineering technologies provide the basis for developing novel antibody products, for use in rapidly expanding biomedical markets. Arana Therapeutics has the financial stability and management expertise to accelerate its clinical programs, and is on track to have at least 3 clinical stage assets within three years.

The pipeline consists of four lead drug programs: ART621 to treat severe rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis and other inflammatory diseases; ART010 to treat osteoporosis and bone cancer; ART104 to treat solid tumours in colorectal cancer; and ART150 for lung cancer and melanoma. Additionally, the company has earlier stage products in development for the treatment of a range of conditions including age related macular degeneration, psoriasis, colorectal cancer, and leukemia.

Arana has recurring revenues from commercial and development partnerships with six international companies including GSK, CSL, Centocor (J&J) and Abbott Laboratories.