Monoclonal Antibodies NR
EnWave Announces Radiant Energy Vacuum Technology Testing Agreement with Tier 1 Pharmaceutical Company for Monoclonal Antibodies March 10, 2014 EnWave Corporation (TSX-V:ENW | FSE:E4U) (“EnWave”, or the "Company") announced today that it has signed a Testing Agreement (the “Agreement”) with a Tier 1 pharmaceutical company (the “Tier 1”) that is in the top five globally for Research and Development spending. The Agreement allows the Tier 1 to exclusively test EnWave’s Radiant Energy Vacuum (“REV™”) technology for the dehydration of monoclonal antibodies (“mAbs”). The testing period is expected to begin in late March 2014. Prior to signing this Agreement, EnWave received positive results in 2011 from a 12 month study comparing the Company’s REV® dehydration technology against the standard industrial drying method, freeze drying, in the dehydration of pure samples of a FITC-conjugated and unconjugated animal-derived mAbs. The results showed that the drying methods were equivalent in terms of the structural changes incurred by the antibodies both immediately post-dehydration, and over the course of the 12 month shelf-life period, but that the samples dried using REV® were dehydrated in considerably less time than required for freeze drying. This was a significant test result as mAbs are much more sensitive and therefore prone to degradation during dehydration. mAbs are produced by a single clone of cells grown in culture, that is both pure and specific and is capable of proliferating indefinitely to produce unlimited quantities of identical antibodies. Beyond basic research, in recent years, therapeutic mAbs have become an increasingly important component of pharmacotherapy and have made a significant impact on the drug discovery and development process. Although antibodies are not considered live organisms, dehydration can cause them to become inactive, and therefore ineffective for use in pharmaceutical and other products, by changing or “denaturing” their outer protein structure. “We have proven that REV™ technology can efficiently dehydrate monoclonal antibodies while preserving their efficacy,” stated Dr. Tim Durance, Chairman & Co-CEO of EnWave Corporation. “This Agreement will provide the opportunity to exhibit the value proposition to this leading Tier 1 pharmaceutical partner