25 February 2021 - - US-based biopharmaceutical company Xencor, Inc. (NASDAQ: XNCR) and UCLA Technology Development Group (UCLA TDG) have inked an agreement to develop novel therapeutic antibodies, pairing novel targets proposed by scientists at California university UCLA and utilizing Xencor's modular suite of XmAb technology platforms, the principals said.

Xencor and UCLA have established a streamlined framework to select promising biology, perform collaborative research and license intellectual property.

Xencor's XmAb platforms are precisely engineered antibody Fc domains, which enable the creation of stable new protein structures, such as bispecific antibodies and engineered cytokines, or amplification of natural immune functions, such as extending circulating half-life or enhancing immune cell cytotoxicity.

Xencor and its pharmaceutical partners are now advancing 20 clinical-stage XmAb-engineered drug candidates for the treatment of patients with life-threatening and debilitating diseases.

Two of these antibodies have been approved by the US FDA, one for the treatment of patients with rare blood disorders and the other for an aggressive form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

The UCLA Technology Development Group, the campus' gateway to innovation, research and entrepreneurship, will work with faculty to propose potential antibody drug candidates. For selected candidates, the collaborators will use a framework with predefined terms to enter sponsored research agreements and potential license agreements.

Xencor is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing engineered monoclonal antibodies and cytokines for the treatment of cancer and autoimmune diseases.

Currently, 20 candidates engineered with Xencor's XmAb technology are in clinical development internally and with partners.

Xencor's XmAb engineering technology enables small changes to a protein's structure that result in new mechanisms of therapeutic action.

UCLA Technology Development Group promotes UCLA innovation, research, education and entrepreneurship to benefit society.

Working with UCLA TDG helps facilitate the translation of UCLA discoveries into new products and services that create economic value to support UCLA's scholarly and educational missions.

The UCLA TDG office manages a large portfolio of technologies and license agreements and has a rich history of startup company formation.