Public Funding for DJS Antibodies Ltd

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"It is estimated that 15.1% of adults will develop advanced chronic kidney disease (CKD) during their lifetime. In the UK, NHS spends £1.23 billion treating CKD each year, with approximately £500 million being spent on dialysis for patients with end-stage renal failure. These patients need to visit hospital at least 3 times weekly for sessions of 4-6 hours, and are limited to 700 mL fluid intake per day. Keeping these patients off dialysis is a therefore a major healthcare challenge. However, even among CKD patients who do not need dialysis, the mortality rate is 36 times higher in patients aged 16-49, and 12 times higher in patients aged 50-64, than age matched controls. In spite of the enormous need, CKD patients are poorly served by current treatments. The only medications with any proven benefits are renin-angiotensin system inhibitors, which work by controlling blood pressure. However patients on these medications still experience progressive kidney loss. There is therefore an urgent need for new treatments that work through separate mechanisms, which can be layered on top of the existing standard-of-care. There is significant evidence for the role of a single cell membrane protein in fibrosis and vascular leak -- processes central to the progression of CKD. Unfortunately, this protein has proven difficult to drug. A small molecule inhibitor recently showed significant benefit in a Phase II clinical a different disease, where fibrosis and vascular leak are also pathological. However, the inhibitor also showed off-target toxicity. Other companies have struggled to produce molecules that fully inhibit signalling by this target. DJS Antibodies has addressed this target by leveraging our unique antibody discovery platform. In previous work, we discovered the world's first lead mAbs that bind to the target and have functional properties. Now we plan to develop these lead antibodies into development candidates, and test them in human and rodent models of disease to obtain a comprehensive preclinical proof-of-concept data package. Success in this project will directly result in DJS either partnering our antibody for development with a major pharma partner, or raising Series A investment to develop the lead candidate to IND approval. With a best-in-class therapeutic supported by rodent _in vivo_ and human _ex vivo_ data packages, DJS will be positioned to exploit the significant commercial opportunity associated with this huge unmet medical need."

"DJS Antibodies has a novel technology which allows us to discover antibody therapeutics against previously intractable disease targets. We are utilising this technology to develop a new drug to treat colorectal and pancreatic cancers. In particular, our antibody will act alongside recently developed therapies which activate patients' immune systems to fight tumours. With over 16,000 deaths each year in the UK from colorectal cancer alone, there is a real need for the discovery of novel therapies, and this project directly addresses that need. The project details the work required to attain pre-clinical proof-of-concept, and show that an antibody against our target can reduce tumour growth in animal cancer models. To do this we must develop in parallel both our lead antibody, and a surrogate antibody which interacts specifically with model species' immune system. Over 24 months we will develop and test these antibodies directly contributing to the overall development of our lead drug. The output of the work will be a best-in-class therapeutic candidate and Innovate UK's support will expedite its progression toward the clinic and to having a positive impact on patients' lives."

We have devised a new strategy for the discovery of a class of medicines called monoclonal antibodies (mAbs). mAbs are medical ‘magic bullets’ that can specifically target diseases in our bodies, and have been very successful in the treatment of conditions such as inflammatory disease and cancer. Unfortunately, however, some of the most attractive disease targets for mAbs, such as multi-pass membrane proteins, have not been targeted. The reason for this is technical, with current methods having very low success rates and utilising technologies which can cost hundreds of thousands of pounds and take years to develop. We have developed a platform for mAb discovery that sidesteps the reliance on these inefficient techniques and have shown it to be highly successful in early experimental work. This means that we have the potential to generate mAbs against disease targets for which traditional methods do not work. In this project we will conduct a thorough proof of market analysis to identify the most valuable disease targets against which we will build future drug development projects. Furthermore, we will identify and initiate key relationships with potential customers, and develop a comprehensive project plan in order to secure the necessary support to begin making the medicines of the future.