News
Specifica Announces Antibody Discovery Platform Transfer Agreement with Servier and its Subsidiary Symphogen
March 31, 2023
SANTA FE, N.M. – Specifica, a Q2 Solutions company focused on innovative in vitro antibody libraries and discovery tools, today announced an agreement with the global pharmaceutical group Servier and Symphogen A/S (Copenhagen, Denmark), Servier’s wholly-owned subsidiary and the Group antibody center of excellence, under which Specifica will provide its Generation 3 antibody libraries and associated optimization and computational tools to Symphogen. The comprehensive technology transfer package will enable the integration of Specifica’s Gen 3 platform into Symphogen’s antibody discovery programs.
“We are excited to enhance our antibody discovery capabilities by on-boarding Specifica’s Generation 3 phage display platform,” said Christophe Thurieau, Global head of Research at Servier. “The Specifica’s advanced platform will contribute to the development of drugs in particular in oncology, neuroscience and immune-inflammation which are among Servier’s foremost priorities.”
Specifica’s Gen 3 libraries combine clinically validated antibody frameworks with compatible binding loop sequences (CDRs) from natural human antibodies that have been purged of sequence-based developability liabilities. The Gen 3 discovery platform consistently yields a broad diversity of specific and developable antibodies with very high affinities, thereby avoiding downstream hit-to-lead optimization bottlenecks such as affinity maturation and developability optimization.
“We are delighted to partner with Symphogen’s dynamic antibody discovery team by providing our complete antibody discovery platform, including our Gen 3 library technology, antibody optimization solutions and integrated discovery tools,” said Ken Sharples, CEO and co-founder of Specifica. “We look forward to exciting new therapeutics emerging from our collaboration with Symphogen’s highly accomplished immunotherapeutics team.”
About Specifica
Specifica, a Q2 Solutions Company, is a rapidly growing antibody engineering company specializing in the creation of exceptional antibody libraries, using next-generation sequencing for quality control at all steps of construction and validation. Specifica’s patented Generation 3 Antibody Library Discovery Platform yields drug-like antibodies directly from selections, minimizing the need for downstream affinity and biophysical engineering. Specifica provides its partners with exclusive libraries, each created from a unique donor diversity set not used for any other library, ensuring that each Gen 3 library is one of a kind. Specifica offers antibody library platforms in Fab, scFv and VHH formats. In addition to in-house antibody library designs, Specifica also collaborates closely with partners to create custom libraries in which essential elements are optimized according to partner needs. The power of the Generation 3 Platform may be accessed by engaging Specifica to execute antibody discovery and optimization campaigns, or by full transfer of the platform technology. Additionally, Specifica recently introduced AbXtract™, a powerful suite of antibody informatics tools, through its software partner OpenEye.
Specifica is headquartered in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
About Q2 Solutions
Q2 Solutions is a leading global clinical trial laboratory services organization providing comprehensive testing, project management, supply chain, biorepository and specimen management, and clinical trial sample and consent tracking solutions. Leveraging our next generation technologies, we deliver agile and precise services designed to meet the diverse needs of our clients. We focus our innovative solutions and scientific expertise on ADME, bioanalytical, genomics, immunoassays testing, vaccines and central laboratory services, including flow cytometry, anatomic pathology, molecular and companion diagnostics, and decentralized clinical trials while providing meticulous regional and global clinical trial implementation support and high-quality data delivery. Our Translational Science and Innovation Laboratory (TSAIL) provides access to a broad range of resources, including a multidisciplinary approach to early-stage human biomarker discovery and clinical sample testing to help accelerate drug development.
At Q2 Solutions, our work is rooted in research, grounded in collaboration, and guided by our passion to turn the hope of patients and caregivers around the world into the help they need.
About Servier
Founded to serve health, Servier is a global group governed by a Foundation that aspires to have a meaningful social impact, both for patients and for a sustainable world. With its unique governance model, it can fully serve its vocation with a long-term vision: being committed to therapeutic progress to serve patient needs. The 21,800 employees of the Group are committed to this shared vocation, source of inspiration every day.
As a world leader in cardiology, Servier's ambition is to become a renowned, focused and innovative player in oncology by targeting hard-to-treat cancers. That is why the Group allocates over 50% of its R&D budget to developing targeted and innovative therapies in oncology.
Neuroscience and immuno-inflammatory diseases are the future growth drivers. In these areas, Servier is focused on a limited number of diseases in which accurate patient profiling makes it possible to offer a targeted therapeutic response through precision medicine.
To promote access to quality care for all at a lower cost, the Group also offers a range of quality generic drugs covering most pathologies, relying on strong brands in France, Eastern Europe, Brazil and Nigeria.
In all these areas, the Group includes the patient voice at each stage of the life cycle of a medicine.
Headquartered in France, Servier relies on a strong geographical footprint in over 150 countries and achieved a revenue of €4.7 billion in 2021.
More information on the new Group website: servier.com
