Crucell teams with ACE Biosciences to develop antibodies to treat hospital-acquired infections

By E. Janene Geiss

Philadelphia, Nov. 2 - Crucell NV announced Wednesday that it has licensed bacterial antigens from ACE BioSciences and the Brigham and Women's Hospital, a teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School, to accelerate its bacterial antibody discovery program.

The bacterial surface antigens licensed have been validated for therapeutic efficacy in appropriate animal models for bacterial disease, according to a company news release.

Crucell said it intends to develop therapeutic antibodies against these targets to treat serious hospital-acquired infections, including those caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

Crucell said it considers the rise in hospital-acquired infections caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria an opportunity for the development of alternative treatments to replace or complement antibiotics. Antibiotic-resistant bacteria increase the severity of disease, escalating mortality rates and driving up costs, officials said.

In the United States and Europe, hospital-acquired bacterial infections now affect about 2 million patients per year, causing 200,000 deaths and costing more than $5 billion in the United States alone, officials said.

"While vaccines against diseases like influenza, West Nile and malaria are successfully progressing towards phase I clinical testing, we consider antibody products to be the next area to profit from the strength of the PER.C6 cell substrate platform," Jaap Goudsmit, Crucell's chief scientific officer, said in the release.

In just a short time, Crucell has developed SARS and rabies programs using its MAbstract and PER.C6 technologies, officials said.

Biotechnology company Crucell is based in Leiden, Netherlands, and focuses on developing vaccines and antibodies that prevent and treat infectious diseases.

ACE BioSciences, based in Odense, Denmark, is an emerging pharmaceutical company focused on developing novel protein-based vaccines and antibodies to address infectious diseases.

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