August 12, 2018: Execution of the Collaborative Development License and Exclusive Option Agreement for anti-Semaphorin 3A antibody developed by Chiome Bioscience
Chiome Bioscience Inc. (hereinafter, “Chiome”) announced today that it has executed a Collaborative Development License and Exclusive Option Agreement (hereinafter, “Agreement”) with SemaThera Inc. (Home office: Montreal, Canada; hereinafter, “SemaThera”) for anti-Semaphorin 3A antibody for the development of therapeutics and diagnostics in Diabetic Macular Edema (DME) and other diabetic complications including non-ocular diseases.
Under this Agreement, Chiome grants SemaThera license to exclusively evaluate humanized anti- Semaphorin 3A antibody (hereinafter, “Antibody”) and an option right to obtain a worldwide exclusive license to use, develop and commercialize the Chiome’s Antibody for both therapeutic and diagnostic uses. The Antibody was originally discovered by Chiome’s proprietary platform, ADLib® system, in collaboration with Professor Yoshio Goshima, Yokohama City University. Chiome and SemaThera agreed to enter into the Agreement with upfront and regulatory milestones, and sales-tied royalty. Details of the financial conditions are undisclosed.
The upfront payment is not material for the financial performance in the fiscal period ending December 31, 2018.
About Diabetic Macular Edema
Diabetic macular edema is a leading cause of vision impairment among people within the working- age population. It is caused by fluid accumulation in the macula, or central portion of the eye, that causes the macula to swell. Of an estimated 285 million people with diabetes mellitus worldwide, approximately one third have signs of DR and of these, a further one third of DR is vision-threatening DR, including diabetic macular edema (DME).
About Humanized anti-Semaphorin 3A antibody
The Antibody specifically binds Semaphorin 3A and inhibit Semaphorin 3A-mediated cellular response. Semaphorin 3A is an axon elongation guidance factor which regulates normal neuronal pattern development. It was reported that Semaphorin 3A increase vascular permeation that causes leakage and develops diabetic macular edema. Chiome has successfully generated chicken IgM anti- Semaphorin antibodies by the original ADLib® System, and then humanized it for therapeutic drug development.
About Chiome Bioscience, Inc.
Chiome Bioscience (http://www.chiome.co.jp/english/) is a biotechnology company with its focus on discovery and development of antibody-based therapeutics in the disease area where high unmet medical needs exist, such like oncology, immunology, CNS, and inflammatory. It has several programs in discovery and preclinical stage in these fields. Chiome owns proprietary antibody generating technology named ADLib® System, together with currently available platforms. It was founded in 2005, and is listed on Tokyo stock exchange Mothers (code: 4583), and is located in Tokyo, Japan.
About SemaThera
SemaThera (http://www.semathera.com) is a Canadian biotech company focusing on the development of novel anti-SEMA 3A therapies for the treatment of several retinopathies, including diabetic macular edema and wet age-related macular degeneration. SemaThera holds exclusive rights to various SEMA3A based technologies, where semaphorin 3A is involved in neo-angiogenesis, senescence and neuronal regeneration. Such technologies may also become future therapies in cancer and neurodegenerative diseases.