AdAlta Pty Ltd, a next generation antibody company, will continue turning sharks — the predators of the ocean — into life savers following an investment led by venture capital firm Yuuwa Capital LP and including members of the Brisbane Angels, the BioAngels in Adelaide and existing AdAlta shareholders. This is Yuuwa Capital’s third investment and its first in the life science field.
AdAlta scientists have used the immune system of sharks and their human based analogues to generate antibody libraries of over 8 billion compounds to be applied in the fight against diseases such as cancer. AdAlta owns intellectual property (IP) relating to the single domain shark antibodies and their human counterparts known as i-bodies. I-bodies have similar properties of the shark antibody including affinity, specificity and stability, however because they are based on a human proteinthe body is less likely to reject them with its own immune system.
There are currently 23 approved antibody-based products with sales forecast to exceed $50 billion per annum over the next few years with novel antibodies representing half of all drugs entering clinical development.
AdAlta’s approach is to make human therapeutics based on antibodies from sharks and the i-bodies. Shark antibodies and i-bodies have a unique structure with the potential to bind molecules not able to be targeted by human antibodies.
Yuuwa Capital Investment Director James Williams explained, “We are pleased to back the AdAlta team and their next generation antibody platform. Sharks are the oldest creatures known to produce antibodies, and AdAlta has captured the benefits of these unique molecules as a true platform for developing human therapeutics. The Company has generated some impressive data to date, and we are excited about the prospects for the future.”
AdAlta CEO Samantha Cobb commented “This investment supports AdAlta in its activities including licensing of its novel shark antibody and i-body libraries to pharmaceutical companies and screening the libraries on key targets to identify drug candidates for development.” Visit www.adalta.com.aufor more information.
Yuuwa Capital LP is a $40 million early-stage venture capital firm based in Perth and backed by local investors and the Australian Government’s Innovation Investment Fund program. Yuuwa seeks to invest in businesses where it can provide both capital and expertise to help founders, management and early investors turn good ideas into great companies.
AdAlta Pty Ltd
Samantha Cobb, CEO
Tel: +61 3 9479 5159
E-mail: s.cobb@adalta.com.au
Yuuwa Capital LP
James Williams, Investment Director
Email: james@yuuwa.com.au
Liddy McCall, Investment Director
Email: liddy@yuuwa.com.au