Visterra Announces Partnership to Develop a Monoclonal Antibody

Visterra announced on May 21, 2015 that it would partner with the Drug Discovery & Development (D3) unit under the Agency for Science, Technology, and Research (A*STAR) to develop VIS51, Visterra’s neutralizing antibody meant to treat dengue fever. VIS513 is engineered using a humanized monoclonal antibody designed to neutralize all four serotypes of dengue virus, DEN-1, DEN-2, DEN-3, and DEN-4.

Visterra, a clinical-stage biotechnology company specializing in therapeutic antibodies for infectious diseases, will work with D3 and infectious disease experts at Duke-National University of Singapore to gather data to initiate clinical trials. Under the agreement, Visterra will maintain all rights to develop and commercialize the therapy.

“This collaboration illustrates D3’s goal of bringing innovative early-stage research that addresses unmet medical needs in Singapore to proof-of-concept clinical trials in humans. We are encouraged by VIS513’s preclinical data, which demonstrate its potential to broadly neutralize all four dengue virus serotypes, as there is currently no specific treatment for dengue, and prevention depends solely on limiting or eradicating mosquitoes that transmit the virus. We are looking forward to working closely with Visterra and advancing VIS513 into the clinic,” said Professor Alex Matter, MD, CEO of D3 and A*STAR’s Experimental Therapeutics Centre (ETC), in a press release.

Source: Visterra