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Raven biotechnologies and Bioprocessing Technology Institute Announce Collaboration to Advance Discovery of Stem Cell Antibodies

Friday, April 4, 2008 General News
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SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., and SINGAPORE, April 4, 2008 Raven biotechnologies, inc., a privately held company focused on the discoveryand development of monoclonal antibody therapeutics (MAbs) for cancer, and theBioprocessing Technology Institute (BTI), today announced a collaboration toadvance the discovery of novel cancer stem cell antibodies.
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Under the terms of the agreement, Raven will license its proprietary wholecell immunization technology for use with BTI's stem cells. Raven will screenthe resulting antibodies against its collection of cancer lines, including itscancer stem cell lines. Raven will have the rights to the antibodies BTIgenerates using Raven's immunization technology for use in cancer therapeuticsand diagnostics and BTI will retain the rights to the antibodies it raises forall other stem cell therapeutic areas.
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"Cancer stem cells represent a promising new source of oncology drugtargets," stated George Schreiner, M.D., Ph.D., chief executive officer ofRaven biotechnologies. "Our collaboration with the Bioprocessing TechnologyInstitute's stem cell research team allows Raven to leverage its noveltechnology for developing monoclonal antibodies through immunization with stemcells. BTI is a world-class research institute. We anticipate that thiscollaboration should yield a substantial number of novel monoclonal antibodiestargeting cancer stem cells suitable for development by Raven biotechnologiesand its partners."

Miranda Yap, Ph.D., Executive Director of Bioprocessing TechnologyInstitute added, "Both BTI and Raven have much to gain from this strategicalliance. It will help strengthen our respective fields of research andadvance science to better human healthcare. Generation of these novelantibodies to stem cells with Raven's proprietary technology will enable thedevelopment of tools for the characterization of stem cells and importantly,these antibodies will also be valuable for the separation of stem cellpopulations for BTI's cell therapy work."

About Bioprocessing Technology Institute (BTI)

Bioprocessing Technology Institute (BTI) is a member of the Agency forScience, Technology and Research (A*STAR). Established in 1990 as theBioprocessing Technology Unit, it was renamed the Bioprocessing TechnologyInstitute (BTI) in 2003. The research institute's mission is to developmanpower capabilities and establish cutting-edge technologies relevant to thebioprocessing community. Some of the key research areas include expressionengineering, animal cell technology, stem cell research, microbialfermentation, downstream purification and analytics. More information on BTIcan be found at http://www.bti.a-star.edu.sg.

About Raven biotechnologies

Raven biotechnologies, inc. (http://www.ravenbio.com) is a privately heldbiotechnology company focused on the development of monoclonal antibodytherapeutics for treating cancer. Raven's lead product candidate, RAV12,targets adenocarcinomas and is in clinical development for the treatment ofgastrointestinal and other cancers. Raven's discovery process simultaneouslyidentifies cell-surface drug targets and the antibody therapeutics to regulatethem. Our focus on biological function allows us to rapidly identify noveltarget antigens and therapeutic candidates in their native configuration inthe intact cell membrane. Our integrated approach is based on proprietarymethods for optimizing the production of MAbs targeting cell-surface proteins,including the use of human tissue-specific progenitor and tumor stem celllines developed at Raven.

To date Raven has identified multiple candidate therapeutic MAbs for manycancer indications including lung, colon, pancreatic, prostate, breast andovarian cancer.

SOURCE Raven biotechnologies, inc.; Bioprocessing Technology Institute
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