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“This collaboration with Twist moves us closer to our vision of becoming a fully global healthcare company while also continuing to drive novel therapies in South Korea through the expansion of our pipeline,” said Hongseok Ban, Ph.D. of Ildong Pharmaceutical.
Twist Bioscience Corporation (NASDAQ: TWST), a company enabling customers to succeed through its offering of high-quality synthetic DNA using its silicon platform, and Ildong Pharmaceutical, today announced an agreement under which Ildong will license a suite of Twist VHH antibody libraries to use to discover and develop antibodies for applications in immuno-oncology.
“This collaboration with Twist moves us closer to our vision of becoming a fully global healthcare company while also continuing to drive novel therapies in South Korea through the expansion of our pipeline,” said Hongseok Ban, Ph.D. of Ildong Pharmaceutical. “Access to a selection of Twist’s VHH libraries will enable us to complete discovery efforts to select antibody candidates for development as novel immuno-oncology therapies.”
“We believe our VHH libraries are extremely versatile in their applications developing novel and next generation therapies. Because they are significantly smaller than a traditional human antibody, they can be combined with other technologies, or used on their own for development of effective therapies,” said Emily M. Leproust, Ph.D., CEO and co-founder of Twist Bioscience. “This VHH library licensing agreement with Ildong is our first collaboration with a South Korea-based company and broadens our presence in the Asia-Pacific region.”
Under the terms of the agreement, Ildong will license a suite of Twist’s VHH libraries for a period of three years and will use the libraries to conduct research and development activities. Twist will receive an upfront payment, annual maintenance fees and additional payments for success-based clinical and regulatory milestones as well as royalties on product sales.
VHH Antibody Libraries
Antibodies contain two variable domains, the heavy and the light chains. A VHH antibody, also known as a single domain antibody, is the antigen binding domain of the heavy chain, with three complementary determining regions (CDRs), or areas where antigens bind to the antibody. Twist’s VHH libraries use novel methods that combine synthetic and natural approaches to maximize diversity in the 10 billion antibody library, creating high quality VHH libraries for use against any protein target. The small size of the VHH antibodies allow them to access targets that traditional antibodies cannot, with tight binding affinity. The modular nature of VHH antibodies supports creation of bi- or multi-specific antibodies ideal for developing next generation therapies specific to oncology, autoimmune disease and virology.
About Ildong Pharmaceutical
As a leading pharmaceutical company in South Korea, Ildong Pharmaceutical has been dedicated and committed to the development and supply of superior pharmaceutical products that contribute to the health and well-being of people around the world. Ildong Pharmaceutical is steadfast in its vision of continuously growing with its customers as a leading global company by providing solutions for disease prevention and developing new solutions for healthier and happier lives.
Ildong Pharmaceutical has earned the trust of our customers with ethical drugs franchise for chronic disease and cancer therapies, antibiotics, and digestive and circulatory drugs, in addition to well-known OTC brands such as Biovita(probiotics product) and Aronamin(multivitamin). Ildong Pharmaceutical is on the road to reaching its vision of becoming a global total healthcare company with various new drug pipelines including Besivo(hepatitis B therapy), which is the 28th novel drug in South Korea, as well as new innovative drug pipelines and new businesses for health functional foods, medical devices, cosmetics, and beverages.
About Twist Biopharma
By leveraging our unique ability to manufacture DNA at scale, we can construct proprietary antibody libraries precisely designed to match sequences that occur in the human body. The Library of Libraries gives our partners an integral and unbiased resource for antibody therapeutic discovery and optimization. This precise and rational approach to library fabrication combined with sophisticated bioinformatics and software expertise expedites antibody discovery by decreasing risk, increasing speed, and lowering the failure rate for antibody therapeutic development.
About Twist Bioscience Corporation
Twist Bioscience is a leading and rapidly growing synthetic biology and genomics company that has developed a disruptive DNA synthesis platform to industrialize the engineering of biology. The core of the platform is a proprietary technology that pioneers a new method of manufacturing synthetic DNA by “writing” DNA on a silicon chip. Twist is leveraging its unique technology to manufacture a broad range of synthetic DNA-based products, including synthetic genes, tools for next-generation sequencing (NGS) preparation, and antibody libraries for drug discovery and development. Twist is also pursuing longer-term opportunities in digital data storage in DNA and biologics drug discovery. Twist makes products for use across many industries including healthcare, industrial chemicals, agriculture and academic research.