BIOMUNEX Pharmaceuticals
Bolstering Next Generation Cancer Treatment

BIOMUNEX Pharmaceuticals is a biopharmaceutical company that develops therapeutics in immuno-oncology.

BIOMUNEX is the brainchild of Pierre-Emmanuel Gerard, a biotech and pharmaceutical industry expert with extensive experience in developing innovative biopharmaceutical products. Under the strategic leadership of the industry stalwart, BIOMUNEX has architected its proprietary BiXAb technology to support the development of breakthrough immunotherapies. BiXAb® is a next-generation antibody technology platform based on computational modeling to effectively create bi-specific and multi-specific antibodies that are being used for the treatment of solid tumors and hematological malignancies.

“BiXAb essentially opens a gateway to forge novel approaches of T cell engagers,” says Gerard.

The BiXAb bispecific antibodies are bi-valent for each target and can be used to specifically engage and redirect T Cells to kill cancer cells or other suitable mechanisms of action. BIOMUNEX’s proprietary methodology of adding a second Fab with a proprietary linker to connect the domains has been patented. Since the solution depends on the natural pairing of light and heavy chains, point mutations in the constant region are introduced to prevent mispairing. It also holds the ability to produce tri- and tetra-specific formats.

“Our platform creates bi-specific antibody from any monoclonal antibody pair with excellent drug-like properties including high binding affinity, lack of aggregation, low risk of immunogenicity, high stability, and excellent manufacturability,” Gerard explains.

BiXAb truly discerns itself in the bsAb field with its capacity to generate new compositions of matter, including design, production, purification, and characterization of antibodies in less than two months without any extensive engineering. This efficient platform has already grabbed the attention of large pharma companies like Sanofi. They signed a licensing agreement with BIOMUNEX to access the BiXAb platform to produce bi-specific and multi-specific antibody therapeutics in a plug-and-play manner andoptimize them.
To up its ante in the immunotherapy field, BIOMUNEX is undertaking various proprietary research programs. Take the novel MAIT cell (Mucosal Associated Invariant T cell) redirection, for instance. MAITs are a subpopulation of T cells that can be specifically engaged to kill cancer cells. This approach was developed by BIOMUNEX—using their BiXAb technology—in collaboration with the Cancer and Immunity Unit at the Curie Institute led by Dr. Amigorena, a key opinion leader in the field. This MAIT cell redirection outweighs some of the limitations of classical CD3+ T-cell engagers, such as cytokine release syndrome, which is detrimental for patients. This novel modality does not engage all T cells, and it’s employable for both solid tumors and hematological malignancies.

BIOMUNEX has also developed a pipeline of BiXAb patented antibodies, including BMX-101 (anti CD38-PD-L1),BMX-003 (anti-RTK family) and BMX-500(anti-MAIT-TAA). One of which was licensed to a Swiss biopharmaceutical company, Onward Therapeutics, in 2021. Recognizing the potential benefits of their research endeavors, the company focused project was awarded a national grant of close to €3 million by the French Government—indeed a great feat to achieve.

Looking ahead, BIOMUNEX is in the developmental stagefor BMX-500 MAIT cell redirection for solid tumors. The company is gearing up to develop BiXAb platform for tri-specific antibodies and plans to launch its first tri-specific Ab program by 2024.

With all these plans in the pipeline, it won’t be an exaggeration to say that BIOMUNEX is on the right path to emerging as a game changer in oncology immunotherapies, thanks to its focus on innovation, zeal to alter the status quo, and indomitable spirit of not yielding to adversities.