BioWa, Inc. announced today
that it is beginning its Phase 1 clinical trial to evaluate the safety and
tolerability of BIW-8405, BioWa's anti-IL-5 receptor monoclonal antibody
(Mab). The Mab is being developed for the treatment of asthma.
"The commencement of the BIW-8405 clinical studies is a significant
step for BioWa's technology platform, demonstrating our commitment to
building a pipeline of Antibody-Dependent Cellular Cytotoxicity (ADCC)
enhanced therapeutic products, positioning BioWa as a key player in asthma
therapeutics," said Dr. Nobuo Hanai, President and CEO of BioWa, Inc. "We
believe that ADCC enhancement of antibodies will overcome many existing
problems of antibody therapeutics today. We are pursuing the discovery and
development of high value proprietary therapeutic products through the use
of POTELLIGENT(TM) Technology."
"Moving forward with our clinical program for BIW-8405 is an exciting
step for BioWa, especially since this is the first Mab of the BioWa
pipeline to enter human trials," said George L. Spitalny, Ph.D., BioWa's
Senior Vice President of Research and Development.
About BIW-8405
The IL-5 receptor is expressed predominantly on the surface of a class
of white blood cells known as eosinophils. These are one of several types
of white blood cells that act to combat infection. However, in a more
negative action, eosinophils have been implicated as the major cause of
problems in the lung associated with various forms of asthma. BIW-8405 is
being developed to reverse the debilitating effects of asthma by acting to
eliminate eosinophils that accumulate locally in the lung.
About Asthma
The overall market for BIW-8405 could potentially gross over $500M
worldwide peak sales. The number of patients affected by asthma is growing
significantly. The asthma market is predicted to increase from the current
$12B to over $19B worldwide by the year 2009.
About POTELLIGENT(TM) Technology
ADCC activity is an important function of the human immune system,
whereby immune cells can kill target cells, e.g. cancer cells. Several
anti-cancer therapeutic antibodies that are on the market today have ADCC
activity as one of their mechanisms for the killing of tumor cells.
Enhancement of this activity is one promising approach in the next
generation of antibody technologies.
POTELLIGENT(TM) technology involves the reduction of the amount of
fucose in the carbohydrate structure of an antibody using a proprietary
fucosyltransferase-knockout CHO cell line as a production cell. Research
shows that POTELLIGENT(TM) technology significantly enhances ADCC activity
of an antibody in vitro, thereby increasing the potential for improved
activity in vivo.
About BioWa, Inc.
BioWa is a wholly owned subsidiary of Kyowa Hakko Kogyo Co., Ltd.,
Japan's leading pharmaceutical and largest biotech company, and is the
exclusive worldwide licensor of POTELLIGENT(TM) technology, which creates
high ADCC monoclonal antibodies. Currently, BioWa is developing ADCC
enhanced monoclonal antibody-based therapeutics to fight cancer and other
life-threatening and debilitating diseases and both BioWa and Kyowa have
POTELLIGENT(TM) antibody products in various clinical stages. BioWa creates
and develops enhanced ADCC antibodies for itself and others, offering a
full range of antibody discovery and development capabilities. For more
information about BioWa, visit its web site at biowa.
BioWa, Inc.
biowa