BioStrand and BriaCell Announce Artificial Intelligence Collaboration and License Agreement to Discover and Develop Anti-Cancer Antibodies

IPA (Immunoprecise Antibodies), an advanced biotherapeutic research and technology company, today announced that BioStrand BV, an AI in silico discovery subsidiary of IPA, has entered into a research collaboration and license agreement with BriaCell Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotechnology company specializing in targeted immunotherapies for cancer.

The collaboration will leverage BioStrand’s LENSai™ software, built upon IPA’s proprietary HYFT™ Universal Fingerprint™ technologies, and will focus on in silico antibody discovery to generate relevant clinical molecules for potential development. Under the terms of the Agreement, BioStrand and BriaCell will collaborate on the design, discovery, and development of anti-cancer antibodies. Upon successful antibody discovery, BioStrand will receive an upfront payment of US$500,000, and will be eligible to receive future success-based development milestones, including those for the submission of Investigational New Drugs (INDs), clinical milestone payments, and commercial royalties on net sales of products. Further terms are not disclosed.

“We are very excited to begin this program with BriaCell and apply our technology to the development of biologics that may have a huge clinical impact,” stated Dr. Ingrid Brands, General Manager and co-founder of BioStrand. “Shortening timelines, while also integrating as much information as possible upstream to improve the efficiency of the process, is extremely important in the development of highly targeted therapies. It is a step towards realizing our long-term vision of significantly advancing precision medicine.”

“We believe that BioStrand’s revolutionary AI-powered technology, combined with its cutting-edge protein engineering platform, will allow us to design and discover potent anti-cancer therapeutics,” stated Miguel A. Lopez-Lago, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer of BriaCell. “This approach would complement BriaCell’s current immunotherapy pipeline of innovative anti-cancer therapeutics.”