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DAEJEON, South Korea, and HAYWARD, Calif., Oct. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- IntoCell, a South Korean biotech developing novel antibody drug conjugate (ADC) platform technologies, today announced the signing of a research collaboration with Ab Studio, a US biotech focused on the discovery of novel antibodies.

The collaboration will include construction of a panel of ADCs by integrating IntoCell's proprietary payloads and Ortho-Hydroxy Protected Aryl Sulfate (OHPAS) linker technology and Ab Studio's novel internalising monoclonal antibody. The selected ADCs will be evaluated on its anti-tumour activity in in vitro and in vivo systems and will then be considered for IND-enabling studies. The parties hope to leverage IntoCell's validated linker system and novel payloads with Ab Studio's antibodies with enhanced and optimised internalisation properties.

"We are excited to start a new collaboration with Ab Studio to harness their antibody discovery capabilities and combine it with IntoCells' highly stable and efficient OHPAS linker systems. In addition, IntoCell's modified payloads can offer improved therapeutic index, which will be complemented by Ab Studio's antibody with optimised internalisation," said Tae Kyo Park, Founder and CEO of IntoCell. "IntoCell is also expanding from ADC to other conjugated drugs through their collaboration with Cellectar to develop new phospholipid ether drug conjugate (PDC)."

"Ab Studio has unique capabilities in antibody development applying a computer-aided approach with conventional methods to design and optimize antibodies, and identify novel internalization antigen-binding sites," said Yue Liu, Founder and President of Ab Studio. "We are excited to utilise IntoCell's linker and payload technology to deliver our novel internalising antibodies to offer treatment to patients with difficult-to-treat diseases."

For further information, please contact:

Stephen Waterman

Managing Director

PharmaVentures Ltd

stephen@pharmaventures.com

About IntoCell, the OHPAS linker and PMT technology

IntoCell has developed a state-of-the-art linker technology comprising of a novel self-immolative group based on Ortho-Hydroxy Protected Aryl Sulfate (OHPAS) chemistry that works with a wide variety of phenolic and non-phenolic payloads. The OPHAS linker was designed to accommodate a wide variety of functional groups and triggering groups. The OHPAS Linker can be triggered by methods that include enzymes (i.e., lysosomal), light, and pH. The resulting ADCs has been shown to be highly stable and have very fast payloads release profiles. IntoCell has devised another ADC platform technology called Payload Modification Technology (PMT) in which temporary modifying groups has been incorporated into traditional payloads. PMT has shown to improve therapeutic index of ADC with significant reduction of normal cell's uptake, resulting in normal cells being minimally affected. By utilising PMT and OHPAS linker technology, IntoCell has successfully delivered a preclinical candidate in the B7-H3 ADC program. ITC-6146RO is the lead candidate that shows high and long-lived potency in a variety of murine xenograft and PDX models with good safety. IND-enabling studies of ITC-6146RO are planned in 2022.

For more information, please visit http://www.intocell.co.kr/

About Ab Studio Inc. and CAAD platform

Ab Studio Inc. is a biotech company located in the San Francisco Bay Area, USA. Ab Studio combines computer aided antibody design (CAAD) with conventional antibody discovery approaches to develop novel complex therapeutic antibodies with superior safety, efficacy, and manufacturability features, targeting difficult-to-treat diseases including cancer, infectious, and CNS diseases. Utilizing this approach, Ab Studio has developed several novel technology platforms including: 1) "Imbalanced" bispecific antibodies 2) "Serial" internalization antibodies and 3) "Catalytic" antibodies. Ab Studio's vision is "quality by design" and expects the in-house discovery and partnerships applying its novel technology platforms to successfully develop therapeutic antibodies against human diseases with unmet clinical needs.

For more information, please visit https://www.antibodystudio.com/

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SOURCE IntoCell and Ab Studio