The company brings together a proven team and novel technologies to increase efficiencies in antibody discovery
Mountain View and San Diego, Calif. – June 7, 2023 – AbTherx, Inc., a privately held biotech company with novel technologies that accelerate antibody discovery, announced the launch of its next-generation human antibody discovery platform. AbTherx’s novel transgenic mouse technologies, Atlas™ Mice, include a clinically validated bispecific antibody format most similar to a native antibody configuration and a long CDR3 antibody technology using native human sequences that improves results against challenging targets such as GPCRs and ion channels. AbTherx is also increasing access to transgenic mice expressing full human antibody diversity. Through technology licensing and research collaborations, AbTherx partners with drug developers of all sizes to overcome the most demanding challenges for advancing innovative medicines.
The AbTherx leadership team has over 100 years of combined experience in antibody discovery and transgenic mouse technologies, including the development of the HuMAb Mouse® technology at Medarex and Bristol Myers Squib (BMS). The HuMAb Mouse technology is the world’s most successful human antibody discovery platform, responsible for 13 marketed therapeutics.
Justin Mika, CEO, has served in executive and advisory roles in successful biotechnology, drug discovery platform, and healthcare investment organizations for over 15 years. His most recent position was CEO of AlivaMab Discovery Services, where he led the organization through a period of rapid growth.
Peter Brams, PhD, CSO, has spent his career focused on the discovery of clinical-grade human antibodies, e.g., Opdivo®, Arzerra®, and Kesimpta®, and notable GPCR-targeting clinical candidates, e.g., Ulocuplumab (anti-CXCR4) and anti-CCR8 antibodies. Peter grew the antibody-discovery unit at Medarex to meet the needs of the worldwide BMS organization.
Dan Rohrer, PhD, CTO, has over 25 years of broad experience in antibody discovery. Over the last 20 years, Dan has specialized in creating human antibody discovery platforms, including developing the HuMAb Mouse platform – the preeminent platform based on FDA approvals. Additionally, Dan has an established background and publication record in GPCR biology and transgenic modeling.
In addition to Mr. Mika, Dr. Brams, and Dr. Rohrer, AbTherx has attracted industry veterans Brian Conn as CFO, Catherine Kara as Head of IP, David Passmore as Head of Business Development, and Stacey Borders as Marketing and Communications Strategist.
“It is exciting to launch this company and begin actualizing the positive impact we will have on the future of medicine,” said Justin Mika, Chief Executive Officer of AbTherx. “Transgenic mouse technologies remain the most proven option for discovering and developing antibody therapeutics; however, there was room for improvement. Atlas Mice were thoughtfully designed to address legacy technology limitations and barriers.”
“Our prior experience developing, managing, and implementing transgenic technologies has allowed us to build a proprietary and scalable core technology with novel features that are particularly focused on enabling the needs of the modern drug generation market,” said Dan Rohrer, Chief Technology Officer of AbTherx. “Atlas Mice can be rapidly adapted to meet the most pressing challenges in therapeutic antibody discovery and development; these tools are focused around native antibody structures, and the design principles are integrated with immunization and screening know-how to maximize discovery potential.”
About AbTherx, Inc.
AbTherx, Inc. was founded in 2023 and is advancing medicine with novel technologies that accelerate and enable therapeutic antibody discovery. The company was founded by a leadership team with over 100 years of combined experience in antibody discovery and platform development, including development of the HuMAb Mouse® technology, the most successful human antibody discovery platform with 13 marketed therapeutics. AbTherx’s Atlas™ Mouse platform enables the development of a clinically validated bispecific antibody format most similar to native antibodies and uses natural mechanisms to generate long CDR3 antibodies to improve the chance of success against challenging drug targets such as GPCRs and ion channels. AbTherx is also increasing access to transgenic mice expressing full human antibody diversity. Through technology licensing and research collaborations, AbTherx partners with drug developers of all sizes to overcome the most demanding challenges in delivering innovative medicines. For more information, please visit www.abtherx.com.
Media Contact
Stacey Borders
stacey@abtherx.com
