Germany: Max Delbrück Centre licenses its autoantibody targets

Licensing deal

A Johnson & Johnson company, Ortho Clinical Diagnostics (OCD), is to license autoantibody targets discovered by Gerd Wallukat at the Max Delbrück Centre in Berlin, in a deal mediated by Ascenion, a Münich-based subsidiary of the Life-Science Foundation for the Promotion of Science and Research, Germany. OCD will use the licences to develop methods to diagnose and monitor cardiovascular disease.

Wallukat’s autoantibody targets are located on receptors known as G-protein coupled receptors, whose recognition of by autoantibodies contributes to the onset of many diseases. These autoantibodies are present in 70 per cent of patients with cardiovascular defects, in particular chronic heart muscle disease, in which their removal can improve cardiac function.

The licence agreement is one of 23 revenue carrying agreements that Ascenion has carried out on behalf of MDC, which also has autoantibody target technologies open to licensing in the field of kidney transplant rejection, malignant hypertension and Raynaud’s Syndrome.

Karen Uhlmann, of Ascenion, said: “While it has long been known that autoantibodies play pivotal roles in autoimmunity or chronic inflammation, their involvement in cardiovascular diseases or other conditions has long been ignored in the scientific community. The agreement with OCD underlines the commercial potential of the MDC’s work in this field. Profound data together with a sound IP position provide an ideal basis for the development of the new products for a more specific diagnosis or treatment of various diseases.”