Tharimmune Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing a portfolio of therapeutic candidates in inflammation & immunology, has announced an option agreement for an exclusive license with Washington University in St. Louis for the rights to develop and commercialize technology related to multiple hybridomas and antibodies directed specifically towards human HER2.
 
“HER2 remains an important tumor target where the need for novel treatments against this receptor will continue to be meaningful, and we are pleased that the work conducted at Washington University to develop these antibodies is being advanced by the team at Tharimmune,” said Prof. Schreiber, the Andrew M. and Jane M. Bursky Distinguished Professor and a professor of molecular microbiology and of pathology & immunology at Washington University.
 
Tharimmune is advancing multi-specific technology targeting the extracellular domains of HER2 and HER3. These validated targets have been extensively studied and belong to the ERBB receptor tyrosine kinase family and are exploited by cancer cells to promote tumorigenesis and metastasis.
 
HER2, an extensively studied target, has multiple approved therapeutics for solid tumors and evidence suggests that HER3 plays a central role through interacting with neighboring receptors. The Company is developing antibodies overlapping with different epitopes on HER2 in contrast to approved therapies with a potential for complementary fit to HER3, affecting novel conformational epitopes thought to be important in intracellular downstream signaling in tumor cells.
 
The compounds developed by the team at Washington University could complement novel combinations to target known and unknown unique epitopes of the extracellular domains of human HER2 combined with internal efforts to create novel multispecific tunable antibodies and antibody drug conjugates (ADCs).
 
“This option agreement allows us to further enhance our internal early-stage pipeline and develop multi-specific novel antibodies against an important tumor target,” said Randy Milby, CEO of Tharimmune. “We are excited to continue the foundational work conducted by the collaborative effort of researchers at Washington University, a global leader in medicine and biomedical research.”