XBiotech Identifies Positive Donors for Anti-Clostridium difficile Therapeutic Antibody Only Two Weeks After Initial Screening

XBiotech

, developer of True Human(TM) therapeutic antibodies, announced today that it has already identified positive donors for its first anti-Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) product candidate. Just two weeks after initial screening of blood donations from healthy volunteers, XBiotech has identified donors that have antibody reactivity against its targeted moieties on the C. difficile bacteria. Identifying natural antibodies against C. difficile in the healthy population is the first step in the discovery process for True Human therapeutic antibodies. Since it is unknown at the onset whether or not natural antibodies will be present in the healthy population, the Company believes that identifying these antibodies, especially so quickly, is a good indication that they are important in protection against disease. John Simard, President and CEO of XBiotech, stated, "Once again, we have demonstrated the remarkable efficiency of our True Human platform to identify leads for the development of natural human antibodies against disease. We look forward to now cloning the anti-C. difficile antibody genes, and potentially advancing a lead antibody toward clinical studies. With our C. difficile program we are attempting to do something quite extraordinary--unlike any other marketed antibody therapy, our goal is to develop the first oral-delivered monoclonal antibody therapy. Gut infection with C. difficile is a dreadful disease that attacks the most vulnerable, including the aged and infirm. An oral antibody therapy in this population could be a very important advance. We look forward to achieving further milestones in this program."