Citryll B.V. founded to accelerate tACPA development
Oss, the Netherlands, June 11, 2015 / B3C newswire / -- ModiQuest B.V., a Dutch antibody drug development and diagnostics company focused on chronic inflammatory diseases, today announces that it has discovered the cellular mechanism of action of its therapeutic anti-citrullinated protein lead antibodies (tACPA) for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and other diseases.
To accelerate tACPA development towards clinical Proof of Concept, facilitate funding, and attract a development partner, Citryll B.V. was founded as a single asset drug development company.
The tACPAs are active in different validated RA animal models and models for other human diseases. They exert their therapeutic effect by inhibiting the formation of Neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) as shown with primary human neutrophils. NETs are extracellular lattices of decondensed chromatin decorated with antimicrobial factors, whose function is to eliminate invading microorganisms. Dysregulated NETosis constitutes a pathogenic mechanism in autoimmune and sterile inflammatory diseases. This offers novel therapeutic opportunities for diseases with unmet medical needs, including RA, where existing treatments can have serious side-effects and comprise a significant percentage of non-responders. NETosis is peptidyl arginine deiminase (PAD) dependent, creating neo-epitopes that trigger autoimmunity and breaking of tolerance in RA.
ModiQuest has discovered tACPAs using its proprietary antibody generation technology platforms ModiFuse™ (highly efficient hybridoma electrofusion technology), ModiSelect™ (B cell selection technology for low immunogenic or multiple antigen targets) and ModiPhage™ (proprietary phage display libraries). All three technology platforms are also used by ModiQuest’s service business, ModiQuest Research B.V., for custom antibody lead generation in third party service projects with a recent addition of an innovative platform for difficult antibody drug targets, ModiVacc™.
About ModiQuest
Established in 2004, ModiQuest consists of two separate divisions: ModiQuest B.V., focused on the discovery of novel antibody therapeutics and diagnostics in chronic inflammatory diseases such as RA and Crohn’s disease; and ModiQuest Research B.V., a full service provider for antibody generation, engineering and optimization. The operations of both divisions are based on a broad range of proprietary and generic antibody generation and development technologies. ModiQuest B.V. and ModiQuest Research B.V. have access to state-of-the-art research facilities, including animal and high-throughput screening facilities. For more information, please visit our websites: www.modiquest.com and www.modiquestresearch.com.
Contacts
Dr. Jos Raats
CEO
ModiQuest B.V.
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+31 412 846 000
Dr. Helmuth van Es
CEO
Citryll B.V.
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+31 621 260 528