EvoGenix acquires US firm Absalus

Unlisted biotech EvoGenix and Mountain View (CA) ally Absalus have formally tied the knot after an 11-month trans-Pacific courtship.

EvoGenix announced today it has formally acquired Absalus, via a scrip deal worth about $8 million. Dr Merilyn Sleigh, EvoGenix' CEO and MD, described the acquisition as "a logical business step" for both companies.

It's also a perfect commercial match, in the you-bend-it, we-fix-it mould. EvoGenix uses its turbo-charged evolution technology to bend mouse monoclonal antibodies into more potent shapes, while Absalus panel-beats them into final, humanised form.

EvoGenix -- headquartered in Sydney but with R&D facilities in Melbourne - is the latest in a series of Australian biotechs to have acquired US collaborators that have complementary IP - Benitec and Avocel, AGT Biosciences and ChemGenex, and AustCancer and Galenica.

Unlike Benitec, now effectively operating from Avocel's former premises, in California, Sleigh said EvoGenix would continue as an Australian-based company. The expanded company will retain the EvoGenix name. The Sydney operation will retain responsibility for corporate strategy and management, while R&D will continue to be focused in Melbourne.

EvoGenix' new Californian base will provide links into the US biotechnology sector, using former Absalus staff, including the company's four founders, to identify and develop new antibody products. Dr Steffen Nock, president of Absalus, will continue to direct the US operations of the expanded company.

EvoGenix and Absalus formed a strategic alliance last May to develop new antibody therapeutics, a fast-developing area of the human therapy market. There are currently 20 different monoclonal antibody therapies on the market, registering total annual sales of US$9 billion and growing at 20 per cent annually. Many other new products are in clinical trials, for diseases ranging from rheumatoid arthritis to viral infections.

EvoGenix' new, integrated technology platform covers the development of murine monoclonal antibodies with higher binding affinities to therapeutic targets, using accelerated evolution, and the conversion of murine antibodies to safe, humanised form -- early therapies based on murine antibodies triggered severe allergic reactions with repeated administration.

Cancer killer

Sleigh said Absalus had also brought another interesting platform technology to EvoGenix' IP portfolio: a small peptide, native to human mitochondria, which can be used to kill cancerous cells by apoptosis.

The peptide is conjugated to humanised mAb designed to bind to a surface antigen unique to cancerous cells. The mAb guides the antibody to the target, and the peptide is taken into the cell, where it activates and induces apoptosis -- programmed cell death.

Nock said the integration of the two companies' technology platforms is a powerful starting point for generating new products for EvoGenix, both the technology is also being offered to partners through alliance and licensing arrangements.

EvoGenix chairman Chris Harris has welcomed the merger as a major step forward for the company.

"This move will result in a company which is unique in the Australian biotechnology market in providing broad access to the highly dynamic antibody therapeutics sector," he said. "With strengths in both technology and products, EvoGenix is well positioned as a global player in the antibody field."