Abiogen licenses RFB4 antibody from CRT

London, UK-based Cancer Research Technology has agreed an exclusive worldwide licence with Abiogen Pharma SpA of Italy. The agreement supersedes a previous licence with Abiogen and will enable the Italian firm to continue to use the RFB4 antibody, in combination with key technology from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, USA, to develop its pipeline therapeutics.

It was originally developed by researchers at the Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine in London, which assigned its ownership rights in the RFB4 cell line to Imperial Cancer Research Technology (now CRT). Under the terms of this new agreement, CRT will receive a signature fee, milestone payments and a percentage of future royalties.

RFB4 is an antibody against CD22, a B cell antigen expressed in approximately 70% of B cell lymphomas and leukaemias. Because CD22 is not expressed on stem cells or in early B cell development, RFB4 has the potential to form part of therapies selectively targeted to CD22-expressing cancer cells.