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Automated Cell’s discovery engine includes unique, proprietary
human antibody libraries and proprietary high throughput, functional
biological screening to identify antibody leads and to determine mechanism of
action, toxicity and validate targets at a throughput of 400,000 antibodies
per week. We have six issued and six pending patents. As a drug discovery company focused on the development of
monoclonal antibody therapeutics for the treatment of cancer, ACI has developed a target independent
approach where the starting point of drug discovery is the identification of
an active antibody through functional biology, rather than the target. The active antibody is then used to
identify and validate its target in parallel with secondary screening, saving
time and money in driving antibodies to the clinic. This novel approach to
antibody discovery offers several advantages over more typical
genomic/proteomic approaches to target identification and validation: 1)
Targets identified by this method are simultaneously validated and suitable
for antibody therapeutics; 2) Because the approach is function based it is
unbiased with regard to target sequence and offers an opportunity to discover
truly novel targets or assign new previously unrecognized function to new
targets, and 3) Removing target identification and validation from the
critical path to the clinic produces faster INDs. Automated Cell’s business strategy is directed at building value
through creating a pipeline of monoclonal antibody drug candidates that ACI
will both drive through clinical trials and partner for further
development. We collaborate with
pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to use our target-independent
platform to create drug discovery programs tailored to their needs. ACI
actively out-licenses our targets, therapeutic and diagnostic antibodies and
other aspects of our technology platforms. Automated Cell’s collaborations include:
Abgenix – where we have determined
antibody mechanism of action; Celltech
– where we have phenotyped and validated protein cancer targets;
Morphochem – where we optimize small molecule lead candidates; Precision
Therapeutics – where we have out-licensed our cell phenotyping technology for
cancer diagnostics; NIH - who is supporting technology development with a
$2.9 million grant; and technology deals to increase our capabilities:
American Red Cross for antibody library technology, Acceptys for human
monoclonal antibody creation and Strand Genomics for informatics. Management Lex M. Cowsert, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer - Dr. Cowsert
has 13 years of biotechnology experience from Vistagen, where he was Vice
President of Functional Genomics, and Isis Pharmaceuticals. During his 11
years at Isis, Dr. Cowsert developed and implemented Isis’ Rapid Throughput
Screening (RTS) for lead discovery and functional genomics and executed RTS
internally and with collaborators. The RTS program grew into the GeneTrove
division at Isis. Earlier, Dr. Cowsert took two Isis lead molecules through
preclinical and Phase 1 and 2 clinical studies. He has over 120 issued U.S.
patents. Dr. Cowsert did his post-doctoral research at the National
Cancer Institute, and received his PhD in Microbiology and pathology from
Georgetown University Medical School in 1986, and his BS in Zoology from the
University of Florida. Kevin Sullivan, Vice President of Business Development – Kevin Sullivan has 26 years experience in the pharmaceutical and analytical markets. Previously, Mr. Sullivan was with Nicolet Instruments, Suprex Corporation, and Fisher Scientific. At Suprex, he had positions of increasing responsibility including Canadian Sales Director, International Sales Manager, and Vice President of Sales and Marketing. At Fisher Scientific Company, he held positions including International Clinical Marketing Manager and Export Sales Manager. Mr. Sullivan received his BS Chemistry from the University of Maryland in 1975. Douglas Koebler, Vice President of Technology – Mr. Koebler is responsible for informatics, software and robotics development. Mr. Koebler has 20+ years of experience in engineering management and design and has been responsible for 17 instrument products. His work history includes positions at Suprex Corporation, Fisher Scientific, Bacharach Instruments, and Thermox Instruments/Ametek. He is the inventor or co-inventor on five issued and six pending patents. He received his MS in Mechanical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University in 1987, his BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh in 1979, and his BS in Physics Education from California University of Pennsylvania in 1973. Scientific
Advisory Board Dr. Charles Cantor is the Chief Scientific Officer and Chairman
of the Scientific Advisory Board in 1998 for Sequenom. In May 2000, Dr. Cantor
was appointed to the Company’s board of directors. He was previously the
chair and professor of the department of biomedical engineering and
biophysics, and Director of the Center for Advanced Biotechnology at Boston
University. Prior to that time, Dr. Cantor held positions at Columbia
University and the University of California, Berkeley. He was also Director
of the Human Genome Center Project of the Department of Energy at Lawrence
Berkeley Laboratory. A world-renowned scientist, Dr. Cantor is a consultant
to more than 16 biotech firms, has published more than 400 peer reviewed
articles, been granted 54 US patents, and co-authored a three-volume textbook
on Biophysical Chemistry. He published the first textbook on genomics
entitled, Genomics: The Science and
Technology of the Human Genome Project. Kenneth A. Foon, M.D. is the Co-Director of Biological Therapy and Hematologic Malignancy Program at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI). Dr. Foon is also the former Director of Clinical Development for Oncology at Abgenix, Inc. and the former Head of the Monoclonal Antibody Section at the Division of Cancer Treatment at the National Cancer Institute. Previously, he held positions as Clinical Professor of Medicine at Stanford University Medical Center, and at University of Michigan, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, the Scripps Research Institute and the University of Kentucky. Dr. Foon’s considerable expertise in both oncology antibodies and clinical development gives Automated Cell a powerful voice of experience as it develops its oncology antibody discovery platform and the lead candidates that it generates. John Kirkwood, M.D. is Professor and Vice Chair for Clinical
Research of the Department of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of
Medicine, and the Director of the Melanoma Center of the University of
Pittsburgh Cancer Institute's Melanoma Center, as well as Chairman of the
Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group's Melanoma Committee. His laboratory and translational research
has focused upon the analysis of the immune response to melanoma; he has led
over 100 clinical trials of a variety of cytokines, antibodies, interferons
and vaccines over the past 25 years. He received his MD from Yale University
in 1973 and his AB in Biochemistry from Oberlin College in 1969. Louis M. Weiner, M.D. is Chairman, Department of Medical Oncology and the G. Morris Dorrance, Jr. Professor of Medical Science at Fox Chase Cancer Center. Dr. Weiner’s research centers on the use of antibody-based molecules to target tumors, with an emphasis on understanding the principles of tumor targeting and the use of antibodies to initiate host immune-mediated tumor lysis. He has been at the forefront of efforts to develop antibody-based therapies of human cancer. Dr. Weiner has been a pioneer in the use of antibody engineering to improve selective tumor targeting and to manipulate antibody-directed immune effector functions. Dr. Weiner received his MD from Mount Sinai School of Medicine in 1977 and his BA with Honors in Biology from the University of Pennsylvania in 1973. Back to top |
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