Abzena announces Antitope Consortium receives €1.9m European grant

Eurostars grant awarded to international consortium including Abzena company, Antitope, for development of novel treatment for clotting disorders

Cambridge, UK – 18 January 2016 – Abzena plc (AIM:ABZA), a life sciences group providing services and technologies to enable development and manufacture of biopharmaceutical products, announces that a grant for €1.9 million has been awarded under the Eurostars™ programme to a consortium that comprises its subsidiary, Antitope Limited, Dutch biopharmaceutical companies Prothix BV and Aristi Biotech BV, the University Medical Center Utrecht (UMCU, the Netherlands) and GenOway, a French company.

The consortium is developing a novel treatment for clotting disorders, targeting antithrombin III, a protein which inhibits blood clotting. Members will provide their know-how and expertise to produce humanised monoclonal antibody candidates that bind antithrombin III, undertake preclinical proof of concept studies and develop a cell line for the manufacture of the selected lead candidate. This novel antibody has the potential to both prevent and treat bleeding in patients with disorders such as haemophilia.

Neil Butt, VP Business Development, Abzena, said: “Applying our Composite Human Antibody™ technology to this novel product will help produce a less immunogenic version, giving it a greater chance of improving the lives of patients.”