ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE YUMAB GmbH www.yumab.com YUMAB: boosting anti-infective antibody and vaccine development YUMAB, a global provider of fully human monoclonal antibody discovery and development, has relocated its headquarters to Germany’s hotspot of infectious research and is advancing new opportunities for the expedited development of prophylactic and therapeutic antibodies and vaccines to fight infectious diseases. Biotechnology company YUMAB, a global provider The combination of deep expertise in infectious of fully human monoclonal antibody (mAb) dis- Therapeutics disease and an advanced fully human mAb discov- covery and development, has recently relocated its ery and development platform makes YUMAB an profile headquarters and research and development labs to ideal partner to drive infectious disease programs Science Campus Braunschweig-South, Germany’s Pathogens YUMAB® PLATFORM Vaccines from basic research to clinical translation. The fully infectious disease research hotspot. YUMAB is now human mAbs developed at YUMAB can be tailored colocated with the Helmholtz Centre of Infection to the specific needs of any kind of mAb develop- Diagnostics Research (HZI), the Leibniz Institute-German ment program, at any stage, and with the properties Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures needed for novel prophylactic or therapeutic strate- (DSMZ) and the German Centre for Infection Research gies against infectious diseases. (DZIF): three world leaders in the fight against infec- Fig. 1| Driving anti-infective mAbs with YUMAB’s tious diseases that provide an ideal environment for fully human mAb and target discovery and Partnering to fight infectious diseases YUMAB to expand its global collaboration network development platform. YUMAB is committed to accelerating the develop- in this space. ment of its customers’ anti-infective mAb pipelines YUMAB’s antibody platform enables the develop- The YUMAB edge in infectious disease with its antibody discovery and lead optimization ment of fully human antibodies, from the company’s In the fight against pathogens, the adaptive immune platform, which has already generated fully human universal libraries (1011) and from patient-derived system generates T cells and antibody-producing therapeutic mAb lead candidates in other areas. libraries, against any type of antigen, even against B cells that can provide lifelong immunity as a sec- YUMAB’s flexible and broad collaboration strategy full virus particles, bacterial and fungal cells. This ond line of defense if innate immune mechanisms maximizes the impact of its antibody technology and approach delivers fully human mAbs with broad fail. Prophylactic vaccination mimics an infection and is well suited for the development of novel mAb- ranges of specificities and minimal immunogenic- achieves similar protection. However, immunization based solutions in the infectious disease space. ity that are ideal for the development of diagnostics can fail owing to immunosuppression, lack of previ- According to YUMAB’s CEO, Thomas Schirrmann, and therapeutics. ous immunity, outbreaks of emerging pathogens or “YUMAB’s platform provides access to biological “Recent conceptual and technological advances imperfect vaccine design, requiring other strategies drug candidates that have evolved over millions in mAb development could have an enormous to stop or prevent an infection. of years of exposure to pathogens. We can rapidly impact on the field of infectious diseases, par- mAbs offer the possibility to fight infections pro- develop advanced antibodies from patient libraries ticularly in the context of emerging infectious phylactically and therapeutically, but pathogen and identify novel immunogenic targets for vaccine disease (EID) outbreaks, in which the process of variability, mutational resistance, multiple entry development. With our relocation to one of the vaccine development for new pathogens may be and pathogenic mechanisms challenge efficacy. world’s hotspots for infectious disease research, we difficult and prolonged,” argued Anthony Fauci, Emerging strategies include the use of mAbs that tar- can take these developments to the next level.” director of the National Institute of Allergy and get crucial pathogen epitopes, oligoclonal antibodies 1. Marston, H. D., Paules, C. I. & Fauci, A. S. N. Engl. J. Med. 378, Infectious Diseases, in a recent perspective in and antibody–drug conjugates, all of which require 1469–1472 (2018). the New England Journal of Medicine1. “The rapid robust and rapid antibody development platforms. 2. GBI Research. Industry Pipeline for Monoclonal Antibodies Encompasses Over 2,800 Programs, says GBI Research. development and strategic deployment of effec- YUMAB uses either its universal antibody libraries, http://gbiresearch.com/media-center/press-releases/industry- tive, highly specific preventive and therapeutic which represent the entire natural human antibody pipeline-for-monoclonal-antibodies-encompasses-over-2800- interventions have the potential to alter the course repertoire, or immune libraries generated from programs-says-gbi-research (2017). of an epidemic.” infected or vaccinated patients for initial in vitro dis- Since the US Food and Drug Administration’s 1998 covery. Bypassing animal immunization eliminates approval of MedImmune’s Synagis (palivizumab) for potential epitope preference by the host immune the prevention of respiratory syncytial virus infection response, which can misguide antibody responses in newborns, only four other anti-infective neutral- to non-neutralizing epitopes. Moreover, in vitro selec- izing mAbs have been approved: GlaxoSmithKline’s tion results in high success rates and can identify Abthrax (raxibacumab) and Elusys’ Anthim (obiltox- antibodies of broad specificity for better diagnostics, aximab), both for inhalational anthrax, in 2012 and vaccines and drugs (Fig. 1). 2016, respectively; Merck’s Zinplava (bezlotoxumab) Two YUMAB founders, Stefan Dübel and Michael for Clostridium difficile infection in 2016; and TaiMed Hust, have long track records in the development of Biologics’ Trogarzo (ibalizumab-uiyk) for HIV in 2018. neutralizing antibodies against HIV, Ebola, Venezuelan Thomas Schirrmann, CEO But with the anti-infective mAb development pipe- and Western equine encephalitis viruses, and bacterial YUMAB GmbH line now representing one of the most active areas toxins from Clostridium botulinum and Bacillus anthra- Braunschweig, Germany 2 in mAb development , YUMAB is poised to join the cis; protective antibodies against wild-type Marburg contact Tel: +49 531 4811 700 race to develop next-generation mAbs to fight infec- virus; and super-humanized antibodies against Email: [email protected] tious diseases. 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