iBio Inc. (IBIO.NYSE) announced yesterday that it has added three anti-cancer targets to its pipeline of therapeutic candidates. This development establishes the Company’s new drug discovery capabilities announced just a few weeks ago.
“We believe combining our ‘speed-to-clinic’ advantages and Glycaneering TechnologiesTM with the antibody optimization technologies provided by FairJourney may enable us to quickly develop differentiated cancer therapeutic antibodies with improved antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity, or ADCC,” said Martin B. Brenner, DVM, Ph.D., iBio’s Chief Scientific Officer.
Rise and shine, its time for another biotech news release, but with a twist. iBio is a biotech innovator and biologics contract manufacturing organization committed to developing proprietary products, including biopharmaceuticals for the treatment of cancers, as well as fibrotic and infectious diseases. Sounds pretty standard, right? However, iBio’s plant-based FastPharming Protein Expression System, brings a unique platform to the drug development sector. In particular, iBio’s FastPharming platform is able to produce a variety of recombinant products including antigens, lysosomal enzymes and cytokines to name just a few.
Under the Company FastPharming System, plants are used for the transient expression of recombinant proteins at scale. For context, recombinant proteins play a pivotal role in providing therapies for a variety of diseases including diabetes, cancer, infectious diseases, hemophilia and anemia. With this in mind, iBio’s FastPharming System can essentially grow these proteins at a linear and scalable rate. For a more in depth, mind boggling explanation of FastPharming, click here.
Referring back to the iBio’s latest press release, the Company announced that it will be adding three anti-cancer targets to its existing pipeline of therapeutic candidates. Additionally, iBio has entered into a research services agreement with FairJourney Biologics, a leader in antibody optimization. Pursuant to the agreement, iBio will gain access to novel display technologies and proprietary antibody libraries.
“Our experience in antibody discovery for use in oncology has grown in recent years, with a number of undisclosed collaborations rapidly moving towards the clinic. We are excited to work with an innovator like iBio, which we believe has the ability to change the bioprocess paradigm, using its proprietary glycosylation technologies to enhance human anti-cancer antibody development,” said António Parada, CEO at FairJourney.
According to iBio’s financial results for the fiscal quarter ended March 31, 2021, the Company achieved revenues of approximately $0.8 million, up from $0.1 million on March 31, 2020. Furthermore, the Company had $103.9 million in cash and cash equivalents as of March 31, 2021. In addition to iBio’s already diverse pipeline of products including biologics for pulmonary fibrosis and systematic scleroderma as well as its IBIO-202 and IBIO-400 vaccines, the Company intends to add three new anti-cancer oncology targets. With this in mind, there is plenty to look forward to, making iBio a company worth keeping an eye on.
iBio’s share price opened at $1.45, up from a previous close of $1.39. The Company’s shares are up 2% and are currently trading at $1.415 as of 11:51AM ET. Following yesterday’s news release, iBio’s share price increased significantly.