Collaboration aims to develop nanobodies against cancer

ENPICOM, a leading provider of bioinformatics software solutions, announces a strategic partnership with Erasmus Medical Center (MC), a renowned institution in cancer research. The collaboration aims to advance the identification and development of nanobodies against cancer utilising ENPICOM’s immune repertoire data analysis services and software solutions.

Dr Guido Jenster, project lead and Professor of Experimental Urological Oncology at Erasmus MC, expressed confidence in the collaboration: "We selected ENPICOM to support our project because of their unique software tailored for antibody discovery workflows and their ability to integrate seamlessly with our team. By leveraging our collective expertise, we aim to make significant strides in discovering novel cancer therapeutics." The partnership is supported by funding from the Ministry of Economic Affairs through the PPP Allowance provided by the Top Sector Life Sciences & Health to promote public-private collaborations.

Paul van der Velde, CEO of ENPICOM, shares his enthusiasm: "We are thrilled to collaborate with Erasmus MC, a leader in cancer research, to explore the potential of nanobody-based treatments. Nanobodies offer promising advantages in cancer therapy due to their small size, enhanced tissue penetration, and greater stability."

Compared to traditional antibodies, nanobodies boast a smaller size, facilitating better tissue penetration and tumour infiltration. Their longer CDR3 regions enable superior recognition of hidden epitopes, while their single-chain structure enhances stability and ease of production and engineering.

ENPICOM’s IGX Platform specialises in analysing antibody sequencing data to identify a diverse range of developable candidates. The platform seamlessly integrates sequence and experimental assay data, facilitating efficient cluster, phylogenetic, and display enrichment analyses in a secure and scalable environment. Additionally, the platform enables high-throughput structural modelling of antibodies to pinpoint the most promising candidates for further development.

In addition to the IGX Platform, ENPICOM offers comprehensive immune repertoire sequencing and analysis services in collaboration with Cerba Research. Furthermore, ENPICOM provides on-demand repertoire analysis and custom development to support non-standard R&D initiatives, combining immunology, bioinformatics, and software engineering expertise to tackle challenges related to adaptive immune repertoires.

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