Canadian antibody R&D organisation eyes India

The Centre for Commercialisation of Antibodies and Biologics (CCAB), a Canadian Federally-funded Centre of Excellence for Commercialisation and Research, organised its second business meet in Bengaluru on Tuesday along with the Canada India Business Exchange, the Canadian Consulate in Bengaluru, and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

Being one the world’s strongest antibody and biologics research communities, CCAB has developed over 800 human antibodies, with applications in cancer, diabetes and infectious diseases like dengue, among others.  At this point, more than a dozen of them are past the preclinical phase,” said CEO Sachdev Sidhu. “While it took us five years to get here, we have now reached a critical point where the antibodies are ready for commercialisation,”  he added.

CCAB is currently looking at Indian companies that it can partner with to enable such commercialisation. “We are looking for innovative companies that are willing to take up this venture. It must be noted that with these antibodies, there is no clear roadmap because they are genuinely new ideas,” he said, explaining the opportunity. However, CCAB believes that the opportunity in India is exciting owing to the outbreak of dengue. Besides, under-treated cancers such as ovarian cancer and pancreatic cancer that have high prevalence, but very few treatments, provide scope for new therapies to be introduced, Sidhu said.

“CCAB is very close to an agreement with Gujarat-based Zydus Cadila Healthcare to take forward the process of marketing its antibodies,” he added.

While CCAB has many antibodies developed, and in the preclinical phase, it is also interested in partnering with companies in early development stages to leverage the synergy in operations. “The earlier we can work with a partner, the better,” he said.