Igyxos and Selexis Enter Service Agreement to Advance Igyxos’ First-In-Class Monoclonal Antibody for the Treatment of Human Infertility
Selexis SA and Igyxos announced that they have entered into a service agreement to develop Igyxos’ first-in-class monoclonal antibody (mAb) drug candidate for the treatment of human infertility. Under the agreement, Igyxos will utilize Selexis’ proprietary SUREtechnology Platform™ to rapidly develop the research cell banks (RCBs) necessary to advance the program to human trials.
Globally, infertility affects approximately 100 million women and men.1,2 In many cases, infertility is related to disorder in gonadotropins, which are hormones responsible for regulating the reproductive cycle. Therapeutic gonadotropins to treat infertility have been the standard of care since the 1960s. By developing a first-in-class mAb that boosts the bioactivity of endogenous and exogenous gonadotropins, Igyxos aims to significantly improve the therapeutic management of men and women suffering from infertility.
“Selexis is thrilled to play a part in Igyxos’ novel therapeutic approach to male and female infertility with an effective treatment that may overcome the long-standing challenges of current methods of addressing the issue,” said Yemi Onakunle, PhD, MBA, Selexis chief business officer. “As experts in cell line development, we are able to quickly and cost-effectively deliver the high-expressing, stable and production-ready research cell banks necessary to help Igyxos reach the clinic faster and gain a competitive edge. We look forward to embarking upon this exciting collaboration.”
Current infertility management remains unsatisfactory with low success rates (only 50% of treated couples have a child after four cycles of hormonal treatments on average), expensive and cumbersome medical treatment protocols with gonadotropins (several injections per week for up to 2 years in men) and low compliance (30% of patients stop during treatment).
“30 million men and 70 million women suffer from infertility worldwide, yet the prospect of a successful outcome remains limited due to a treatment landscape plagued by low success rates, challenging medical treatment protocols and low compliance,” said Pierre-Henry Longeray, CEO at Igyxos. “At Igyxos, we are working tirelessly to bring a new and long-overdue therapeutic option to address this important issue. With Selexis’ track record of success and innovative technologies, we’re excited to leverage their expertise for the advancement of our important drug development program.”
Selexis’ modular SUREtechnology Platform™ facilitates the rapid, stable, and cost-effective production of virtually any recombinant protein and provides seamless integration of the biologics development continuum, spanning discovery to commercialization.