HBMAT was founded on the expertise of Harbour BioMed's antibody discovery and development capabilities, and expertise in the molecular pathogenesis and treatment of endocrine disorders of HBMAT's Scientific Founder Dr. Joseph Majzoub, Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine at Boston Children's Hospital. HBMAT has licensed relevant technologies from Boston Children's Hospital. Dr. Majzoub chairs the Scientific Advisory Board for HBMAT and is a shareholder of the company. At present, HBMAT's Scientific Advisory Board comprises Dr. Majzoub, Dr. Frank Grosveld, Co-founder and CSO of Harbour Antibodies and the inventor of Harbour Mice®, and Dr. Ieuan Hughes, a paediatric endocrinologist and an emeritus professor of paediatrics at the University of Cambridge. HBMAT's programs aim to deliver precision therapies for endocrine disorders. The leading programs target a pathway for CAH and PCOS. The financing will be used to advance these programs into the clinical stage. CAH is a rare-autosomal recessive genetic disease with a defective CYP21A2 gene. CAH patients have life-threatening deficiencies of glucocorticoid and mineralocorticoid, with limited treatment options and no new therapeutic modalities in over 50 years. While the current standard of care is associated with inevitable treatment-related side effects, specifically Cushing Syndrome and hyperandrogenism, HBMAT is developing HAT001 which focuses on treating hyperandrogenism without causing Cushing Syndrome. HAT001 would effectively cause reversible pharmacologic adrenalectomy, converting CAH patient treatment into that for primary adrenal insufficiency, which can be easily treated with much lower, physiological doses of glucocorticoid. "I am very excited about this unique opportunity of developing antibody therapeutics for CAH, a rare genetic disease and PCOS impacting women's health," said Jingsong Wang, Founder, Chairman & CEO of Harbour BioMed, and Chairman of BOD of HBMAT. "The company is thrilled to take these exciting programs to the next level and translate this therapeutic antibody with very impressive biological functions into clinical benefits for patients with significant unmet medical needs." "I've worked closely with patient groups and tried to help those suffering from rare diseases over the past decades. HBMAT has already identified a clinical development candidate with excellent characteristics in preclinical functional activities including in vivo efficacy in various relevant animal models. I look forward to moving the development candidate into clinical trials and beyond." said Dr. Philip Reilly, a renowned clinical geneticist and biotech entrepreneur, and board member of HBMAT.
PCOS is one of the most common endocrine and metabolic disorders in premenopausal women. PCOS is frequently associated with abdominal adiposity, virilization, insulin resistance, obesity, metabolic disorders and cardiovascular risk factors. The economic burden of PCOS has been estimated at approximately $3.7 billion annually in 2020 when considering only the costs of the initial diagnosis and of reproductive endocrine morbidities, without considering the costs of pregnancy-related and long-term morbidities. Harbour BioMed (HKEX: 02142) is a global biopharmaceutical company committed to the discovery, development, and commercialization of novel antibody therapeutics focusing on immunology and oncology. Harbour BioMed is building its robust portfolio and differentiated pipeline through internal R&D capability, collaborations with co-discovery and co-development partners, and select acquisitions. Harbour BioMed's proprietary antibody technology platforms Harbour Mice® generate fully human monoclonal antibodies in two heavy and two light chain (H2L2) format, as well as heavy chain only (HCAb) format. Building upon the HCAb antibodies, the HCAb-based immune cell engagers (HBICE®) can deliver tumor-killing effects unachievable by traditional combination therapies. Integrating Harbour Mice®, HBICE® with single B cell cloning platform, the antibody discovery engine is unique and efficient for the development of next-generation therapeutic antibodies. For more information, please visit www.harbourbiomed.com. About HBM Alpha Therapeutics
Jingsong Wang, M.D., Ph.D., Chairman of BOD
Former Head of China R&D & Head of Translational Medicine, Asia Pacific, Sanofi Joseph Majzoub, M.D., Scientific Founder
Philip Reilly, M.D., J.D., Board Member
Michael Rosenblatt, M.D., Board Member
Member of the research advisory committees of the Massachusetts General Hospital,
Former Chief Medical Officer at Flagship Pioneering
Former Chief Medical Officer at Merck Robert Kamen, Ph.D., Board Member
SOURCE HBM Alpha Therapeutics