France-based research-driven biotechnology company Syndivia receives the exclusive license from SATT Conectus to DARx technology. The novel technology allows direct covalent linkage of payloads with off-the-shelf proteins substrates, including antibodies, in a defined 1-to-1 manner.
The DARx technology yields bioconjugates antibody-drug conjugates and antibody-oligonucleotide conjugates with a degree of conjugation or drug to antibody ratio of 1 (DAR = 1), obtained using DARx. In pre-clinical development, these conjugates demonstrated to have improved therapeutic indexes due to improved PK/PD parameters.
Syndivia, focuses on the development of new therapeutic agents for the treatment of solid cancers based on specifically targeting the tumor microenvironment and anatomical hallmarks has been granted an exclusive, worldwide license by SATT Conectus for a technology (DARx).
DAR 1
The agreement is expected to result in the development of a wide range of previously inaccessible biologics formats, such as antibody-drug conjugates, antibody–oligonucleotide, and antibody–interleukin conjugates with a defined degree of conjugation or drug to antibody ratio of 1. This minimum possible degree of conjugation was found to have important advantages for addressing solid cancer indications in vivo.
The development of this technology for both therapeutic and diagnostics applications will be carried out by Syndivia in Strasbourg, France.
“The unique feature of DARx is that it allows us to readily link in a straightforward way any off-the-shelf antibody with virtually any payload to generate 1-to-1 immunoconjugates. The results we have obtained to date in the ADC and AOC domains look very promising, in in vivo models of highly heterogenic solid tumors,” said Sasha Koniev, Syndivia’s founder and Chief Executive Officer.
Curring-edge research
“Cutting-edge academic research has been the cornerstone of Syndivia’s success story thanks to the scientific excellence of the BioFunctional Chemistry (BFC) team at the CNRS/Université de Strasbourg led by Alain Wagner and with the support of Conectus,” said Caroline Dreyer, Conectus’ Chief Executive Officer.
“Today, Syndivia is expanding its capabilities with this new enabling technology. With this novel technology, Conectus demonstrates the relevance of its investment in the proof-of-concept of DARx technology, showcasing its broad application scope. After a first technology transfer at Syndivia’s inception, this new license also illustrates the [benefit] of our collaborative co-conception model, working together with our partners and creating economic and innovative momentum.”
Syndivia will further development of the technology and the resulting drug candidates in exchange for undisclosed upfront and milestone payments to Conectus.
