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31 May 2018Asia-Pacific

Astellas-backed Crescendo pairs up with Zai Lab in licensing deal

UK-based Crescendo Biologics has agreed a global licensing deal with biopharma company Zai Lab which will see Zai Lab develop and commercialise an antibody, “VH domain therapeutic”, for applications in inflammatory diseases.

Crescendo, which is backed by investors Astellas and Takeda, announced the agreement yesterday, May 30.

Crescendo’s product candidate was developed using its transgenic mouse platform, which “generates novel small, robust, and potent protein therapeutics based on fully human VH domain building blocks”.

Zai Lab is planning clinical studies in psoriasis for the candidate next year.

Harald Reinhart, chief medical officer of autoimmune and infectious diseases at Zai Lab, said that biologics-based therapies are increasingly effective in skin conditions, but are “often associated with treatment-limiting immunosuppressive side effects”.

He added: “We see a clear benefit with topically administered dermatologic preparations which offer strong clinical efficacy and are potentially safer for chronic administration.”

Peter Pack, CEO of Crescendo, added: “We are pleased to sign this agreement with Zai Lab, a foremost developer of innovative medicines across diverse therapeutic areas where there are substantial unmet needs in global markets.”

Crescendo’s main focus is oncology, with a pipeline covering targeted T-cell approaches. It has developed CB307, “a novel bispecific PSMA-targeted T-cell engager for the selective activation of tumour-specific T-cells exclusively within the tumour microenvironment, thereby avoiding systemic toxicity”.

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Asia-Pacific
15 August 2018   Japan-based Astellas Pharma has acquired Quethera, a UK-headquartered gene therapy company focused on developing treatments for ocular disorders.