Nodality, Inc. Announces Data Presentation from Collaborative Program with UCB at American College of Rheumatology 2014 Annual Meeting

Nodality, Inc., advancing the discovery, development and use of transformative therapies across broad therapeutic categories, with a focus on immunology and oncology, announced today the presentation of research findings from its collaborative partnership with UCB Pharma S.A. The data are being featured at the 2014 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting, currently taking place in Boston, Massachusetts.

In an oral presentation being delivered today (Abstract #2873), UCB is reporting on the novel elucidation of the effects of UCB’s humanized monoclonal antibody, epratuzumab, on multiple B cell populations derived from healthy donors by application of Nodality’s Single Cell Network Profiling (SCNP) technology. B cells are the target immune cells for epratuzumab, which is in late-stage clinical development for the treatment of individuals with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).

“Nodality’s SCNP has broad application in the development of therapeutic candidates, including in disease and drug profiling, and we are very pleased to announce this additional validation of our proprietary functional biology platform at the ACR conference,” said Laura Brege, CEO and President of Nodality, Inc. “We believe that the impact of SCNP within the life sciences will continue to grow significantly, as evidenced by multiple presentations at ACR, as well as at this month’s EORTC-NCI-AACR Symposium.”

Presentation Details

• “Epratuzumab Induces Broad Inhibition of B Cell Receptor Proximal Signaling but Has Opposing Effects on Distal Signaling in B Cell Subsets: A Profile of Effects on Functional Immune Signaling By Single Cell Network Profiling”

  Epratuzumab’s mechanism of action centers on the B cell-specific protein CD22 and its regulatory activity of B cell receptor (BCR) modulation. SCNP analysis of functional immune signaling identified epratuzumab inhibition of BCR-proximal signaling across all B cell subsets tested, supporting an inhibitory role of epratuzumab in BCR activation. Effects on distal signaling showed opposing effects: While epratuzumab led to inhibition of distal signals in the switched memory B cell population, naïve B cells showed activation of distal signals. These data have implications for understanding the functional consequences of epratuzumab treatment on B cell pathologic activity in patients with autoimmune diseases, such as SLE.

  Date: Tuesday, November 18, 2014, 4:30 – 6:00pm eastern
  Session: B cell Biology and Targets in Autoimmune Disease
  Abstract number: 2873
  Location: Boston Convention and Exhibit Center, Room 109A
  Authors: Alison Maloney, Drew Hotson, Stephen Rapecki, Gianluca Fossati, Simon Lumb, David Rosen, Santosh Putta, Nikil Wale, David Spellmeyer, Alessandra Cesano, Rachael Hawtin and Anthony Shock

About Single Cell Network Profiling

Contemporary pharmaceutical research and development remains challenged in producing drugs able to revolutionize the treatment of many of our most intractable diseases. Nodality offers solutions with its Single Cell Network Profiling (SCNP) a multiparametric flow cytometry-based assay that, coupled with Nodality’s proprietary data analysis and visualization tools, uniquely reveals complex functional biology to inform more effective drug development decisions.

Characterizing cell signaling networks in millions of cells at the single cell level, SCNP uses simple blood draw samples and then measures functional pathway signaling in robust, human primary cell-based translational models of disease, drug activity and patient responses. Originally developed at Stanford University, SCNP does not require physical isolation of cell subsets and therefore provides real-time information on cell-cell interactions, identifies the functional signaling capacity of rare cell subsets, such as drug-resistant cells and stem cell populations, reveals the functional consequences of epigenetic mutations and enables the interrogation of immune cell communication and dysfunction in disease.

About Nodality

Nodality is advancing drug discovery, therapeutic development, and precision medicine by delivering critical and clinically actionable information to bridge gaps left by traditional R&D approaches. Nodality’s proprietary functional biology platform, Single Cell Network Profiling (SCNP), provides unprecedented insights into diseases and partners’ product candidates and is applicable through the full discovery and development process, including disease profiling, drug profiling, clinical development, and life cycle management. Nodality’s teams have expertise in achieving solutions across a very broad therapeutic landscape, with a focus on immunology and oncology, including immuno-oncology. SCNP enables smarter spending decisions and is applicable across a very broad therapeutic landscape and throughout the full discovery and development process. Nodality has established multi-year strategic collaborations with UCB Pharma S.A. (Euronext Brussels: UCB), Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) and Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ), utilizing its SCNP technology to assist the discovery and development of new therapeutic compounds.