LakePharma, Harbour Antibodies Form Discovery Partnership

LakePharma, U.S.-based contract research organization (CRO) specializing in antibody and pro-tein engineering, cell line development, and protein production, and Harbour Antibodies BV, a Harbour BioMed subsidiary, have formed a technology partnership. The partnership provides LakePharma the right to utilize Harbour Antibodies' patented H2L2 transgenic mouse platform in its therapeutic antibody discovery service offerings to clients in pharmaceutical and thera-peutic biotechnology companies.

Harbour Antibodies' patented H2L2 transgenic mice produce classical antibodies-two heavy and two light chain immunoglobulins-with fully human variable regions. In response to anti-gen challenge, the engineered mice produce in vivo affinity-matured, target-specific human antibodies with low risk for immunogenicity. The H2L2 platform has been used by more than thirty companies and organizations for antibody discovery. To date, two antibodies generated by the platform have entered clinical trials.

"Our clients are increasingly looking for accessible transgenic mouse platforms to discover unique therapeutic antibody candidates," said Hua Tu, founder and chief executive officer, LakePharma. "We are excited to bundle the H2L2 technology, which has established a strong track record of success, into our high-quality antibody discovery service. This partnership pro-vides pharma and biotech companies with unprecedented capacity and flexibility to discover fully human therapeutic antibodies via LakePharma's hybridoma-driven antibody discovery en-gine."

Jingsong Wang, chief executive officer, Harbour BioMed, said, "Harbour Antibodies is delighted to team up with LakePharma in offering the H2L2 platform in a unique business model. Our approach is structured to facilitate easy access to the H2L2 platform through a pre-negotiated technology evaluation license and to readily integrate with LakePharma's services."