Momenta Pharmaceuticals Exercises Option to Acquire Novel Antibody Program from AnaptysBio

SAN DIEGO, Sept. 8, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- AnaptysBio, Inc., a privately-held therapeutic antibody company, today announced that Momenta Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: MNTA), a biotechnology company specializing in the characterization and engineering of complex drugs, has exercised its option to acquire a novel antibody program from AnaptysBio.  Upon payment of an option exercise fee to AnaptysBio, Momenta has received worldwide rights to therapeutic antibodies against a target selected based upon the anti-inflammatory effects of IVIg.  The aforementioned option right was granted by AnaptysBio to Momenta under an agreement signed between the companies in December 2013. 

"We are pleased to have successfully achieved this milestone with Momenta and look forward to their advancement of the antibodies generated by AnaptysBio's SHM-XEL platform. In less than six months from inception, this program synergized AnaptysBio's leadership in antibody development with Momenta's understanding of the biology of IVIg to develop novel therapeutic options for patients suffering from autoimmune disease," said Hamza Suria, President and Chief Executive Officer of AnaptysBio Inc. "The success of this program further affirms AnaptysBio's industry-leading track-record in developing novel therapeutic antibodies against challenging first-generation therapeutic targets. In addition to generating value through pharma and biotech partnerships, AnaptysBio's primary focus is the advancement of its wholly-owned therapeutic antibody pipeline against emerging opportunities in inflammation and fibrotic disease."

"The antibodies generated by AnaptysBio allow us to further progress our development of a novel recombinant antibody for certain autoimmune disorders," said Ganesh Kaundinya, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer of Momenta Pharmaceuticals, Inc. "The target for the antibodies was selected based on Momenta's research of the complex biology underlying the anti-inflammatory effects of IVIg.  As a result of this research, we engaged AnaptysBio to engineer a novel recombinant antibody that targets a specific biological pathway we believe is important for autoimmune diseases.  We look forward to sharing more details of this program and our other lead programs in the autoimmune disease area at our R&D day in October."

About AnaptysBio

AnaptysBio is a privately-held company focused on the generation of antibody therapeutics and is the leader in the use of somatic hypermutation (SHM) for antibody discovery and optimization. AnaptysBio is developing a pipeline of therapeutic antibody candidates, including novel programs in immuno-oncology, inflammation, fibrosis and muscle wasting disorders.  AnaptysBio's proprietary SHM-XEL platform, which couples fully human antibody libraries with in vitro somatic hypermutation in mammalian cells, replicates key features of the human immune system and overcomes limitations of prior antibody technologies.  AnaptysBio has previously announced partnerships with Merck, Roche, Novartis, Celgene, Gilead, Momenta, DARPA, DTRA and TESARO.  For more information, visit www.anaptysbio.com.

About Momenta

Momenta Pharmaceuticals is a biotechnology company specializing in the detailed structural analysis of complex mixture drugs and is headquartered in Cambridge, MA. Momenta is applying its technology to the development of generic versions of complex drugs, biosimilar and potentially interchangeable biologics, and to the discovery and development of novel products.

ANAPTYSBIO CONTACT:
Julie Rathbun
+1.206.769.9219 or [email protected]

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SOURCE AnaptysBio

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