Symphogen presents pre-clinical data on Sym004 program for EGF-receptor positive cancers

Symphogen will today present pre-clinical data on Sym004 program for EGF-receptor positive cancers at the IBC’s International Conference on Antibody Therapeutics in San Diego.

Copenhagen, Denmark – December 7, 2010. Symphogen A/S today announced that Mikkel Wandahl Pedersen, Principal Scientist will give a presentation on the discovery and pre-clinical development of the Company’s anti EGFR program, which is currently in phase I clinical trial against EGF receptor (EGFR)-positive cancers. The data will be presented at the IBC’s 8th Annual International Conference on Antibody Therapeutics in San Diego on December 7, 2010.

The Sym004 drug candidate consists of two recombinant antibodies targeting EGFR and is being developed to combat EGFR-positive cancers. Pre-clinical data reveals that Sym004 exhibits superior anti-cancer efficacy in vivo in a range of tumor xenograft models as compared to marketed monoclonal anti-EGFR antibodies by a mechanism of action that is distinct from that of monoclonal antibodies.

“These data demonstrates that Symphogen has a unique anti-cancer product in clinical development that in the pre-clinical setting displays superior anti-cancer efficacy to existing monoclonal antibodies,” said Kirsten Drejer, PhD, CEO of Symphogen.

“With our proprietary Symplex™ and SymSelect™ technologies, we were able to discover what appears to be a very potent antibody mixture that inhibits EGFR by binding to two distinct receptor sites and thereby induce its removal from the cancer cells. This is something that cannot be accomplished with a monoclonal antibody approach,” said Mikkel Wandahl Pedersen, PhD, Principal Scientist at Symphogen.

About Sym004
Sym004 is a recombinant IgG1 antibody product consisting of two antibodies against the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). Similar to marketed monoclonal antibodies, Sym004 inhibits cancer cells in vitro by inhibition of ligand binding, receptor activation and downstream signaling.

In addition, Sym004 induces rapid and efficient internalization and degradation of the EGF receptor due to the simultaneous binding of full length Sym004 antibodies to non-overlapping epitopes. This removal of the EGF receptor leads to a superior anti-tumor response of Sym004 as compared to marketed monoclonal EGFR antibodies in vitro and in vivo. Sym004 has a safety profile similar to marketed monoclonal antibodies and is currently being evaluated in clinical trials.

About Symphogen
Symphogen is the leader in developing recombinant polyclonal antibodies (pAb), a new class of biopharmaceuticals for the treatment of serious human diseases. By employing its pioneering antibody discovery and manufacturing technologies, Symphogen generates recombinant antibody compositions that capture the diversity and effectiveness of the natural immune system. Symphogen is building a proprietary product pipeline within several disease areas, including infectious diseases and cancer.

Symphogen is a private biopharmaceutical company based in Copenhagen, Denmark. Refer to www.symphogen.com for further information on Symphogen.

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Symphogen A/S
+45 4526 5050
kd@symphogen.com

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