Amplimmune Enters Into Broad Alliance with NCI
Collaboration Will Focus on Potential New Therapies for Cancer and Autoimmune Disease
FREDERICK, Md., Oct. 13, 2009 — Amplimmune, Inc., has entered into a broad agreement
with the National Cancer Institute (NCI) for further advancement of two Amplimmune
product candidates into therapies for cancer and autoimmune disease.
Under the Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA), Amplimmune will
collaborate on multiple projects with NCI and its contractor, SAIC-Frederick Inc.,
under the umbrella of the NCI’s Advanced Technology Partnerships Initiative (ATPI).
The goal of ATPI is to accelerate the translation of cancer and AIDS research into
clinical therapies, diagnostics, and treatments. NCI-Frederick’s prime contractor,
SAIC-Frederick is facilitating these partnerships for NCI.
The collaborations will focus on furthering development of Amplimmune’s AMP-110
and AMP-224 therapeutic biologic candidates. AMP-224 blocks activation of the PD-1
receptor and inhibits immune evasion typically induced by tumors or infectious disease
pathogens. AMP-110 is being developed as a biologic to treat autoimmune/inflammatory
disease and has been demonstrated to attenuate key inflammatory pathways that contribute
to a wide range of different autoimmune diseases.
“We are very pleased to establish this broad CRADA with the National Cancer Institute,”
said Michael Richman, Amplimmune’s President and CEO. “We look forward to collaborating
with investigators at NCI and feel that these collaborations will have a significant
impact on accelerating development and advancing AMP-224 and AMP-110 into the clinic,”
he added. “We value the opportunity to collaborate with Amplimmune on development
of their leading therapeutic biologic candidates to treat cancer and immune disorders.
This partnership reflects the true potential of NCI’s ATPI—to accelerate leading
innovations into clinical application in the fight against cancer, through strategic
partnerships. We look forward to working closely with our colleagues at Amplimmune
on our shared goals under the CRADA,” said David Hoekzema, SAIC-Frederick’s Vice
President of Business Development.
About Amplimmune Inc.
Headquartered in Rockville,
Md., Amplimmune is focused on developing novel biologics targeting key co-stimulatory/co-inhibitory
molecules that rebalance the immune system and are intended for treating cancer,
autoimmune disease, infectious disease, and transplantation. With its strong development
focus, Amplimmune is rapidly advancing two lead molecules toward clinical development:
one in the area of cancer and the other in the autoimmune disease setting. AMP-224
will be advancing into a phase 1 clinical trial for cancer in 2010. Working closely
with its founders at Johns Hopkins University and other collaborators, Amplimmune
is expanding its technology base in the area of immune co-stimulatory/co-inhibitory
molecules and has assembled a large foundation of reagents, models, know-how, and
intellectual property to further develop its product pipeline as well as to discover
novel biomarkers, ligands, and receptors. For more information:
www.amplimmune.com.
About SAIC-Frederick
SAIC-Frederick, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Science
Applications International Corporation (SAIC), a Fortune 500® company, is the operations
and technical support contractor for the National Cancer Institute’s research and
development center in Frederick, Md. This is a national laboratory dedicated to
rapidly translating basic research into new technologies for diagnosing, treating,
and preventing cancer and AIDS. SAIC-Frederick maintains a full suite of advanced
technologies in areas such as nanotechnology, genomics and imaging; operates the
federal government’s drug and vaccine manufacturing facilities; operates the high-performance
Advanced Biomedical Computing Center; and supports more than 300 clinical trials
for patients in the United States and around the world.
Information about the NCI’s
Advanced Technology Partnerships Initiative can be found at the ATPI Home Page
Contacts:
Frank Blanchard
SAIC-Frederick, Inc.
(301) 846-1893
blanchardf@mail.nih.gov
Gary
Fanger
Amplimmune Inc.
301-309-9800
fangerg@amplimmune.com