SMEpost

Drug-development startup striving efficacy in cancer treatment

Bengaluru-based Zumutor Biologics, a drug-development startup, has partnered with US-based global major Catalent Pharma Solutions and has completed a research study that can potentially lead to greater efficacy in the treatment of cancer. The successful completion of the study has led to a global alliance between the two entities.

“We have used our proprietary technology and used Catalent’s GPEx cell line (which creates stable, high-yielding cells) and we have successfully demonstrated that we can improve an antibody and improve a drug product. Because of this improvement Catalent and Zumator have come together in a global alliance,” said Kavitha Iyer Rodrigues, Founder-Director of Zumutor Biologics.

Antibodies are produced by our bodies to combat foreign substances such as viruses and bacteria. Founded in 2013, Zumutor Biologics is headquartered in Woburn, USA and has its R&D facility in Bengaluru. The startup has raised $11.5 million, in two rounds, from Accel Partners, IDG ventures, Aarin Capital and Karnataka Information Technology Venture Capital Fund (KITVEN).

Zumutor has two in-house technology platforms – Afucosylation, an enhanced antibody technology, and a Protein Display Library. Patent applications have been filed to secure global rights for these platforms.

Using its in-house platform, Zumutor is in pre-phase one stage of developing a new version of a bestselling breast cancer drug with 20-fold functionality enhancement.

Source: The Economic Times