Amorfix Life Sciences Ltd. (AMF.TO) announced Tuesday that it has developed antibodies that selectively target and bind to misfolded Fas receptor protein expressed on the cell surface of cancer cells.
Amorfix noted that the antibodies were generated against targets identified using the Company's proprietary ProMIS discovery technology, which is able to predict regions of proteins that are exposed only when they are misfolded in disease, and not in healthy states.
The company said that it will take several candidate antibodies into the next phase of development to evaluate their ability to effectively kill tumors in a number of cell based assays. The company expects to complete these studies and select a lead candidate by September of this year followed by the initiation of proof of concept studies in animal models of cancer before year end.
The company noted that the Fas receptor was first identified in the mid-1980's and later developed as a promising new therapeutic target for the treatment of cancer. The biology of the Fas receptor is well characterized and it has been shown that antibody binding to Fas receptors cause cell death.
Initial attempts by others to develop antibodies against Fas receptors as a novel treatment for cancer were halted because the receptor is expressed on both normal cells and tumor cells and treatment resulted in toxic side effects; particularly liver toxicity, the company said.
Amorfix said that its antibodies were shown to bind to the majority of tumor types tested including lung, prostate, melanoma and others while only having minimal binding to few normal cell types.
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