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Argos Technology


 

Technology

DENDRITIC CELLS: THE IMMUNE SYSTEM´s Master Switch
Dendritic cells are the master switch that can turn the immune system on or off. Dendritic cells capture, process and identify antigens, or foreign bodies, and alert the body’s immune response, activating antibodies and T cells to destroy the invaders. Without the active engagement of dendritic cells, the immune system is like a huge army, without a general to lead the defense.


Arcelis™ Personalized Immunotherapy Platform
Arcelis, Argos’ core technology for creating personalized immunotherapies, is designed to better harness the power of dendritic cells to treat cancer, HIV and other infectious diseases by loading these cells with a patient’s own tumor or viral RNA. This process triggers an immune response that is 100% relevant for that particular patient, enabling completely personalized immunotherapy.

AGS-003, which is being evaluated in the ADAPT Phase 3 clinical study, is the most advanced Arcelis product candidate. The study is designed to examine the potential for AGS-003 plus standard targeted drug therapy to extend overall survival versus standard therapy alone in newly diagnosed patients with unfavorable risk metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC). For more information about AGS-003 and the ADAPT study, visit www.ADAPTkidneycancer.com

Inflammation, Autoimmune and Transplantation Platform
Argos is building on its knowledge of dendritic cells and its expertise in immunology to develop an immunotherapy platform based on, CD83, a soluble protein. CD83 has applications for transplantation cases, where donor cells are regarded as foreign and there is high risk of rejection, and inflammatory and autoimmune disorders, where an individual’s immune system attacks its own cells, mistaking them for invaders. Argos also is developing an anti-Interferon-alpha monoclonal antibody that is in a phase 1 clinical trial in SLE patients.

Intellectual Property
Argos has a significant intellectual property estate generated by its scientific leadership in the immunotherapy field. Argos´ IP around the Arcelis platform includes coverage of two broad processes. The first set of patents relates to the production of dendritic cells from dendritic cell precursors, and the second covers the use of RNA as an antigen platform, whether from defined or undefined antigens. Argos’ intellectual property patents have been filed in the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia and Japan.

Argos has secured rights to develop treatments outside of its Arcelis technology as well. Argos and Beckman Coulter signed an agreement in April 2006 granting Argos exclusive therapeutic use rights for the soluble recombinant protein, CD83, including use as a therapy for inflammatory and autoimmune disorders and transplant rejection. In addition, Argos has acquired exclusive rights to a number of additional patents related to CD83 and its use. Argos also has exclusive rights to patents covering the anti-Interferon-alpha monoclonal antibody that is in a phase 1 clinical trial in SLE patients.