Allergies, driven by a malfunctioning immune system, are increasingly prevalent and pose significant social and economic challenges, with severe cases like peanut allergy potentially leading to life-threatening anaphylaxis. Since its foundation in 2015, Mabylon has been tackling this challenge by harnessing the therapeutic potential of naturally occurring human antibodies to treat allergies, neurodegenerative diseases, and inflammation. Human-derived antibodies have superior therapeutic potential compared to antibodies derived from conventional sources, such as humanized animal models or artificial libraries.
With MY006, the company is developing an anti-allergen multispecific antibody targeting peanut allergy, derived from allergic patients to generate target disease-relevant allergenic determinants. This drug candidate is currently undergoing Investigative New Drug (IND) studies and will subsequently enter clinical development in Q4 2025 in collaboration with Pfizer through the Pfizer Ignite program. Mabylon retains all rights to its product and maintains independence in the decision process.
Mabylon is also collaborating with SciNeuro Pharmaceuticals on multiple targets that encompass serious neurological diseases including TAR DNA-binding protein-43 (TDP-43) and Apolipoprotein E (APOE) for neurodegenerative diseases for which there are currently no effective treatments. Both TDP-43 and APOE have human genetic evidence causal to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and Alzheimer’s disease. Under the terms of their agreement, SciNeuro will have rights to develop and commercialize the resulting product(s) within Greater China and an option to expand such rights to become worldwide. While the details of the transaction remain undisclosed, the company has shared that it received an upfront payment and is eligible for milestone and royalty payments.
These programs have been funded through multiple financing rounds, with the recent series A round in May 2023 resulting in a total of CHF 29 million invested in the company in addition to CHF 4.3 million in grants from several organisations. With a team of 22 employees, the company is currently fundraising for its Series B round to take its lead program to clinical development and the following program to IND filing.
New grants to fast-track TDP-43 antibodies
The company has obtained additional funding from Target ALS and the ALS Association to accelerate the development of TDP-43 intrabodies. The potential of this research is underscored by Dr. Kuldip Dave, Senior Vice President of Research at the ALS Association, who emphasized the importance of TDP-43 as a prime target for treating both familial and sporadic forms of ALS.
Additionally, Innosuisse has granted CHF 0.8 million to further develop Mabylon's MY012 program, with the University of Zurich, supervised by Prof. Michael Scharl as research partner and Mabylon as the implementation partner. MY012 centers on a proprietary, inflammasome-targeting antibody therapy for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). This therapy promises superior safety and efficacy in treating IBD, a condition that affects millions worldwide.
“We are very grateful for these grants, which will help us achieve preclinical proof-of-concept for these two programs through research collaborations with renowned top experts in the respective fields,” said Alcide Barberis, PhD, CEO of Mabylon. “The goal is to then rapidly progress the programs into clinical development in partnership with biopharmaceutical companies or by creating an asset-specific spinoff with dedicated investments. At Mabylon, we are currently focusing our efforts on the clinical development of our innovative anti-allergen antibody product candidates.”
(Press release/RAN)