Pepscan Therapeutics Announces Establishment of Scientific Advisory Board

LELYSTAD, The Netherlands, September 28, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Pepscan Therapeutics, the Netherlands-based biotechnology firm focusing on protein mimicry technology for the generation of novel therapeutics, today announced the establishment of a Scientific Advisory Board (SAB). The SAB will guide the company in the further development and application of its core protein mimicking technology for the creation of novel therapeutic peptide drugs and monoclonal antibodies.

The Scientific Advisory Board is chaired by Sir Gregory Winter, a scientific pioneer of protein engineering and therapeutic monoclonal antibodies. He invented techniques to make humanized and fully human antibodies for therapeutic uses. Winter co-founded Cambridge Antibody Technologies, Domantis and Bicycle Therapeutics and is Deputy Director at the Laboratory of Molecular Biology, as well as at the MRC Centre for Protein Engineering, in Cambridge (UK).

Other distinguished members of the Scientific Advisory Board are:

Andrew Hamilton, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford and former Professor of Chemistry at Yale, a leading expert in the field of mimics of protein surface domains;

Andreas Pluckthun, Professor of Biochemistry at the University of Zurich and co-director of the department, a renowned pioneer in the antibody, protein engineering and directed evolution field, and co-founder of Morphosys and Molecular Partners;

Reinhold Foerster, Professor of immunology at the Medical School in Hannover, and an internationally acknowledged expert on chemokine receptors.

"We are very pleased with the formation of our Scientific Advisory Board and feel honored to collaborate with this experienced team that is highly committed advising the Company on moving forward its research and development program," said Wim Mol, CEO of Pepscan. "The complementary knowledge of the renowned scientists in this team will play a significant role in our R&D programs and success of the company."

Peter Timmerman, Chief Technology Officer of Pepscan and Professor in Protein Mimetic Chemistry at the University of Amsterdam, commented: " With this team of experts we get access to virtually all key aspects of antibody and GPCR-technology that are crucial for high-profile product discovery and development in that area. Yet it is also important to note that with this team we do not only cover expertise in antibody development, but also in the area of therapeutic peptides, a field that is rapidly growing and gaining increased interest from large pharma companies."

About Pepscan Therapeutics

Pepscan Therapeutics is a privately held company based in Lelystad, The Netherlands. Pepscan is using its proprietary high throughput CLIPS protein mimicking technology for the development of novel constrained therapeutic peptides and monoclonal antibodies against intractable targets like GPCR's. Besides its pipeline of proprietary anti-GPCR monoclonal antibody products Pepscan has various ongoing collaborations with leading pharmaceutical and biotech companies to develop novel therapeutics based on its proprietary CLIPS technology.

About CLIPS technology

CLIPS (Chemical LInkage of Peptides onto Scaffolds) is a technology to present one or more peptides in a structurally constrained configuration. These molecules behave as functional mimics of complex protein domains and hitherto have been used in antibody and vaccine programs to create superior immunogens in the induction and selection of antibodies against disease relevant protein targets. This is especially valuable in the case of proteins that are inaccessible as recombinant proteins (e.g. GPCRs, ion channels, patented proteins).

SOURCE Pepscan Therapeutics