BioWorld International Correspondent

LONDON - Avidex Ltd. secured a welcome £5 million (US$8.1 million) cash injection from Syngenta AG, giving the company enough money to last into 2007 and enabling it to take the lead product RhuDex into Phase Ib trials in rheumatoid arthritis.

The equity investment involves some element of collaboration between them in allergy, but Avidex was not allowed to disclose details.

At the same time, Ian Kimber, an immunology expert at Syngenta's Central Toxicology Laboratory in Cheshire, UK, will join Avidex's board.

Avidex's core monoclonal T-cell receptor technology enables it to produce fully human, soluble T-cell receptors that can deliver immune potentiating or toxic payloads in cancer, and block inappropriate activation of T cells in autoimmune disease. The company has developed a number of cancer products, and in autoimmune disease, it is applying the technology to rheumatoid arthritis, Type I diabetes and psoriasis. The agreement with Syngenta marks the first move into allergy.

"What I can say is that the deal was done because we recognize the expertise of Ian Kimber," Neill Mackenzie, chief business officer, told BioWorld International. "We are former colleagues, and when I was considering who we could work with in allergy, I realized we could add value with him."

Syngenta's Central Toxicology Labs work to ensure pesticides and genetically modified seed varieties developed by the Basel, Switzerland-based company are safe both for humans and the environment. The lab has full toxicology/pharmacology and ADME capabilities for preclinical packages.

Syngenta has a biopharma division also, which was set up to apply the company's agricultural biotechnology skills to the development of biopharmaceuticals. The main focus is on manufacturing biopharmaceuticals in plant and microbial systems, and the company has the capabilities to develop products to Phase IIa. It has signed collaborative deals with Affimed Therapeutics AG, of Heidelberg, Germany, to co-develop Affimed antibodies, and with Pieris Proteolab AG, of Freising, Germany, on an anticalin, an engineered receptor protein with antibody-like properties.

The £5 million investment will fund the Phase Ib trial of RhuDex, to begin in March, with data expected by the end of 2006. RhuDex is an orally active small-molecule CD80 antagonist, which acts as an immunosuppressant and an anti-inflammatory agent.

It blocks the second of the key steps that are involved in aberrant T-cell activation in rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune diseases. The first step - binding between the T-cell receptor and the HLA interface - is followed by a co-receptor binding event involving CD80 on the target cell and CD28 on the T-cell, which is blocked by RhuDex.

Mackenzie said there are no other orally available small molecules targeting T-cell activation by CD80 in development. He is looking for a partner for the product.

Avidex has raised £30 million since its formation in 1999. The company is seeking further investment, and on the back of the agreement with Syngenta, Mackenzie was approaching U.S. investors last week.