CMC Biologics to Manufacture mAbs for the Treatment of Malaria

CMC Biologics will manufacture monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) and provide process development services for the PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative (MVI), CMC announced on Aug. 12, 2015. The company will use its proprietary production cell line for the project, and will test MVI’s investigational mAb for its ability to target circumsporozoite protein (CSP) and protect against infection by Plasmodium falciparum, the parasite that causes malaria.

"We will deliver cGMP material for MVI's preclinical and Phase I/II clinical studies in a remarkable 12 months-the fastest development timeline in the industry from DNA to delivery," Gustavo Mahler, PhD, global chief operations officer at CMC Biologics said in a press release.

Based on the success of the project with MVI, the group may hire CMC to investigate additional mAbs that bind to alternate epitopes. "Assuming this initial study is successful, we will evaluate other antibodies targeting novel vaccine targets for their capacity to protect humans from infection and therefore, inform future vaccine development efforts," confirmed Ashley J. Birkett, PhD, director at MVI.

Source: CMC Biologics