Velabs Therapeutics GmbH (Velabs), a biotech company focused on the rapid screening of functional therapeutic antibodies announced that it has entered into an exclusive licence agreement with alytas therapeutics GmbH (alytas), for the development and commercialization of alytas’ antibodies in the field of senescence, related degenerative processes and pathologies.

Velabs Therapeutics, a young start-up company of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), is a pioneer of microfluidic technology for the screening of antibodies with modulatory function on complex signalling proteins such as GPCRs, ion channels or other regulatory proteins. The current active investor is Xlife Sciences AG, a Swiss company focusing on the development of promising life science technologies. Velabs offers its screening know-how and capacities for pharmaceutical collaborations worldwide. In addition to existing partnerships, Velabs is currently building its own pipeline of therapeutic antibody candidates for further development. Recently, the company has started to develop antibody-based senolytics, a class of drugs designed to prevent cell and tissue degeneration that can occur during the aging process by eliminating so-called "senescent cells."

alytas specializes in the research of fat metabolism in connection with obesity. Its program is based on several proprietary protein epitopes with high relevance for the immunological regulation of excess adipocytes and has already been conceptually confirmed in vitro and in vivo. In a previous strategic partnership, alytas and Velabs co-developed different sets of preclinical antibodies for a novel immune-based obesity treatment. The current licence will allow Velabs to exclusively develop these antibodies against senescence related degenerative processes. Both indications, obesity and senescence, together with their associated co-morbidities, are conditions with unmet medical need and enormous market potential.

Christoph Antz, Managing Director of Velabs, states: "We are pleased to have entered this licence agreement with alytas, which will allow us to develop a completely new treatment against ageing related decline of body functions. We are confident that this new approach has the potential to open new ways towards less associated deteriorations, higher degrees of vitality and better health conditions during human ageing process, thus increasing quality of life at older age and reducing the burden of age-related diseases and complaints. Velabs’ know-how in the generation and preclinical validation of functional antibodies will be instrumental in developing a first mover antibody-based therapy for the preventive delay of senescence associated body decline."

About Velabs Therapeutics

Velabs Therapeutics, financed by Swiss-based Xlife Sciences Ltd., is a spin-off company launched by Europe's most renowned institute for life sciences research, the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) and its technology transfer arm EMBLEM Technology Transfer GmbH (EMBLEM). The institute has an outstanding track record in instrumentation development and is at the forefront of microfluidics-based screening technology and applications worldwide.

The Company's droplet-based microfluidic screening technology is designed to rapidly generate antibodies against target molecules presented on cellular membrane surfaces or as a soluble protein. Velabs has pioneered the use of droplet microfluidics for the rapid screening of correctly paired human antibodies; the antibodies found by Velabs not only bind to a drug target, but can also modulate its function.

About alytas therapeutics

alytas therapeutics GmbH is a spin-off of the University of Jena with the aim to develop a therapeutic antibody for the treatment of morbid obesity. The Company, financed and managed by the Swiss-based Xlife Sciences Ltd., has know-how and patents on several antigenic epitopes with proven relevance to novel therapeutic immune-based regulation of excessive amounts of adipocytes in patients with obesity. The founders of alytas have been working for many years in the field of obesity and their current treatment hypothesis is based on in vitro and in vivo data from humans and animals. The company is set up as a Lean Project Management Engine with various core partnerships.

About Xlife Sciences AG

Xlife Sciences AG is a Swiss company with focus on investing in promising technologies in the life science industry. Xlife Sciences AG is building the bridge from research and development to healthcare markets by supporting researchers and entrepreneurs in positioning, structuring, developing and implementing their concepts. Together with industrial partners or universities, Xlife Sciences AG leads projects through the proof-of-concept phase after an invention disclosure or start-up. Subsequently, the firm focuses on out-licensing or selling the company, often with a combination of a strategic partnership. Xlife Sciences AG offers its investors direct access to the further development of innovative and future-oriented technologies at a very early stage.

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