Biotech Values

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The company claims its mAb, which is produced in transgenic
plants, has greater ADCC and less CDC than Rituxan.

Biolex has something of a following in these circles. The company is also working with Medarex on improving MDX-060.

Results were reported online on November 26 and in the December print issue of Nature Biotechnology, under the title “Glycan optimization of a human monoclonal antibody in the aquatic plant Lemna minor.” Scientists at Medarex and Biolex characterized the monoclonal antibody MDX-060 produced in the LEX System and MDX-060 produced in a CHO system.

The LEX System was engineered by Biolex to optimize the glycosylation structure of the antibody. MDX-060 produced in the LEX System had higher affinity for Fc receptors than MDX-060 produced in the CHO system, an attribute that, in other antibody products, has been strongly correlated with increased efficacy and response to treatment in oncology and autoimmune indications. The binding affinity of the LEX System MDX-060 was at least 20 to 35 times higher than MDX-060 produced in the CHO system, and the effector function of the LEX System MDX-060 was at least double that of the CHO system MDX-060, measured by comparing antibody dependent, cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC)

The re-engineered MDX-060 is named MDX-1401 and has been advanced into phase I testing.