Lankenau Institute for Medical Research out-licenses antibody display platform technology to OCMS Bio
The Lankenau Institute for Medical Research (LIMR), the research division of Main Line Health, signed a licensing agreement with OCMS Bio, LLC, a biotech startup that will commercialize a novel technology for producing monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) invented by Scott Dessain, MD, PhD, a professor at LIMR.
Antibody-based therapies tailored to specific disease molecules are the chief biologics used as injectable medicines in health care today. But the creation of these new medicines starts with cloning an antibody from the immune cell factories that synthesize them. At present, the cloning process is painstaking, costly in time and resources, and fraught with failure in obtaining antibodies with the vital characteristics of a true medicine.
Dr. Dessain’s new technology platform, called On-Cell mAb Screening (OCMS™), improves the standard technology in several ways. Most importantly it enables rapid identification and isolation of B cells that secrete antibodies with desired characteristics that can be challenging or impossible to obtain by existing methods.
In preclinical studies, Dr. Dessain and his lab team showed how the OCMS™ platform could rapidly characterize poliovirus-neutralizing mAbs from patients, and isolate mAbs that can diagnose a potentially fatal autoimmune brain inflammation.
“We are excited to make Dr. Dessain’s breakthroughs available to the biotechnology community,” said Martina Molsbergen, chief commercial officer of OCMS Bio, based in Wynnewood, Pa. “His innovation will produce an unprecedented array of diagnostic and therapeutic mAbs, which will advance patient care exponentially.”
The technology platform captures and displays antibodies secreted by hybridoma cells, which are hybrid cells often employed by biotech developers for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. Further, the OCMS™ technology enables fluorescent on-cell screening, making the sought-after mAbs easily identifiable. Once identified, the mAbs then can be analyzed for expression level, binding activity and other characteristics.
“Dr. Dessain’s novel technology enables a new suite of useful methods to obtain antibodies that are otherwise difficult or impossible to clone from patients,” said George Prendergast, PhD, president and CEO of LIMR. “It is a remarkable achievement, and we’re thrilled to have reached this licensing agreement with OCMS Bio, demonstrating once again LIMR’s continuing commitment to improve human health through research and entrepreneurship.”
Dr. Dessain is director of the Center for Human Antibody Technology at LIMR and holds the Joseph and Ray Gordon Chair in Clinical Oncology and Research.
In addition to conducting biomedical research, LIMR’s resident faculty develop new biopharmaceutical and medical device technologies, particularly in the fields of cancer, cardiovascular disease, autoimmune disorders and regenerative medicine.
The licensing deal was shepherded to a close by L2C Partners, a Wynnewood,Pa.-based company specializing in technology transfer and commercialization services that is partnered with LIMR to help manage and develop its intellectual property portfolio.
About Main Line Health
Main Line Health® is a not-for-profit health system serving the greater Philadelphia region. The System comprises five hospitals, seven health centers, more than 160 outpatient and physician practice locations, over 14,500 employees and more than 2,200 employed and independent physicians and advanced practice providers.
Founded in 1985, Main Line Health includes four of the region’s most respected acute care hospitals — Lankenau Medical Center, Bryn Mawr Hospital, Paoli Hospital and Riddle Hospital — as well as Bryn Mawr Rehab Hospital, one of the nation’s premier facilities for rehabilitative medicine. The System also includes Mirmont Treatment Center, which provides treatment and support for substance use disorders; Main Line Health HomeCare & Hospice; Main Line HealthCare, its employed multispecialty physician network; Lankenau Institute for Medical Research, a leading biomedical research organization; and Main Line Health Centers offering primary and specialty care, lab, radiology and other outpatient services in Broomall, Collegeville, Concordville, Devon, Exton, King of Prussia and Newtown Square.
Main Line Health brings together physicians, advanced practice providers, nurses, researchers and other healthcare professionals across a broad network of inpatient, outpatient, home-based and community-based services. Through this integrated approach, the System delivers high-quality, comprehensive care across the continuum — from primary care and preventive services to complex specialty, surgical, trauma, emergency, rehabilitative, behavioral health, home care and hospice services — with a focus on making care accessible in the communities where people live and work.
Main Line Health also collaborates with leading clinical partners to expand access to specialized care. Through its affiliation with Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, pediatric care is provided at select Main Line Health locations, including neonatal intensive care units at its acute care hospitals and Bryn Mawr Hospital’s Inpatient Pediatric Unit and Emergency Department. Jefferson Health neurosurgeons and neurointerventionalists also provide 24/7 specialized care, including neurointervention and lifesaving stroke care.
About Lankenau Institute for Medical Research
Lankenau Institute for Medical Research (LIMR), part of Main Line Health, is a nonprofit biomedical research institute on the campus of Lankenau Medical Center celebrating its landmark 100th anniversary of scientific accomplishment in Fall 1927. LIMR's mission is to improve human health and well-being. Through its ACAPRENEURIAL™ organizational model, which integrates academic and entrepreneurial approaches, LIMR faculty and staff advance innovative strategies to address formidable medical challenges including cancer, cardiovascular disease, tissue regeneration, gastrointestinal disorders and autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis. LIMR's principal investigators conduct basic, preclinical and clinical research, using their findings to improve disease detection, diagnosis, treatment and prevention. They are committed to extending the boundaries of human health through technology transfer and training the next generation of scientists and physicians.
About OCMS Bio, LLC
OCMS Bio, LLC, is a startup biotech company that will commercialize the OCMS™ technology for the discovery and production of human and other mammalian mAbs.
About L2C Partners
L2C Partners offers institutions and research organizations expert outsourced technology transfer and commercialization services. Committed to innovators and to moving inventions from the lab (or the studio) to society, L2C helps its clients optimize the opportunity posed by an existing gap in the life sciences/technology/manufacturing ecosystem. L2C Partners currently supports health system, research institution, colleges and university clients across the eastern United States. The company, powered by veteran business and tech transfer executives, is headquartered in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania.