WuXi Biologics Congratulates Tychan for Dosing First Patient of a Zika Antibody after Record 9 Months of Development

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Feb 08, 2018, 08:04 ET

SHANGHAI, Feb. 8, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- WuXi Biologics (2269.HK), a leading global open-access biologics technology platform company offering end-to-end solutions for biologics discovery, development and manufacturing, today congratulated its partner Tychan for dosing the first patient with a first-in-class Zika antibody Tyzivumab in a Phase Ia clinical trial in Singapore.

Tychan is a clinical-stage biotechnology company located in Singapore. Enabled by WuXi Biologics, the Investigational New Drug (IND) package for Tyzivumab was developed in a record time of 9 months. In addition, Tychan is expanding the collaboration with WuXi Biologics on two other infectious diseases of global importance.

"The current paradigm of taking years to bring a drug from discovery to the clinic does not allow us to effectively deal with outbreaks of emerging diseases," said Teo Ming Kian, Chairman of the Board, Tychan. "These outbreaks are often explosive and claim many lives within a few months. The SARS episode is a painful reminder. To make a difference to outbreak interventions, research discovery must be translated into medicines within such timelines. The development of Tyzivumab is a first step in this direction."

"We are very excited to have participated in this important venture of filing and obtaining approval for an IND in world record time. WuXi Bio-Tychan joint partnership will help produce important medicines for deadly infectious diseases; and we look forward to the journey ahead," said Dr. Chris Chen, Chief Executive Officer of WuXi Biologics.

"The discovery and development of Tyzivumab is not just a story about scientific advance, but also of how collaborative efforts between key parties, many of whom are based in Singapore, can produce results that fundamentally change the way the world thinks about drug development. Singapore MIT Alliance for Research and Technology's (SMART's) contribution to this first-in-class human testing of this important antibody via licensing relevant intellectual property is consistent with MIT and SMART's mission of research for impact," said Professor Daniel Hastings, CEO and Director of SMART.

The outcome of such innovations would be tremendously impactful; as every day saved to advance the delivery of therapeutics, without compromising on the safety while establishing the efficacy to patients, would save many lives in pandemics caused by emerging infectious agents.

About Tyzivumab

Tyzivumab is the first-in-class monoclonal antibody designed and engineered to treat Zika infected patients to enter the clinic. Tyzivumab is directed against a specific quaternary epitope of the envelope (E) protein on the surface of the virus, limiting viral fusion to host cells and preventing viral replication.

About Tychan

Tychan, a Singapore clinical-stage biotechnology company, is focused on bringing life-saving treatments for emerging infections to those in need through disruptive technologies. In a coordinated effort with regulatory authorities, they are accelerating the translation from non-clinical studies to clinical trials for emerging pathogens. Founded by Professor Ram Sasisekharan of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) /Singapore MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART) and Professor Ooi Eng Eong of Duke-National University of Singapore (Duke-NUS), their expertise spans the fields of biologics development and biology of acute viral infections. Temasek Holdings is the founding investor of Tychan Pte. Ltd.

About WuXi Biologics

WuXi Biologics, a Hong Kong-listed company, is the only open-access biologics technology platform in the world offering end-to-end solutions to empower organizations to discover, develop and manufacture biologics from concept to commercial manufacturing. Our company history and achievements demonstrate our commitment to providing a truly ONE-stop service offering and value proposition to our global clients. For more information on WuXi Biologics, please visit www.wuxibiologics.com.

SOURCE WuXi Biologics