Collaboration in Singapore to Develop in vivo Molecular Imaging Agent

A new partnership for the establishment of an imaging research laboratory based in Singapore will focus on developing biomarkers for the study of diseases such as cancer and immune dysregulation.

ImaginAb (Inglewood, CA, USA), and Duke-National University Singapore (NUS) Graduate Medical School will partner to develop in vivo molecular imaging agents focused on cancer, immunology, and disease areas unique to the Asian region.

Duke-NUS Medical School is a Singapore-based venture between Duke University (Durham, NC, USA) and the National University of Singapore, a US-style medical school that is focused on training scientists and researchers targeted to biosciences discoveries and development for Singapore’s biomedical research hub.

The USD 12 million collaboration between ImaginAb and Duke-NUS has resulted in a joint corporate laboratory to develop new in vivo molecular imaging agents with an Asian disease-centric focus. The parties have earlier reported the establishment of protein engineering and molecular imaging capabilities designed to interface with Duke-NUS’s Signature Research Programs (SRPs) in cancer and stem cell biology, cardiovascular, and metabolic diseases, neuroscience, and immunology. These new capabilities will also be used to support ImaginAb’s internal R&D activities and serve as a focal point for several of ImaginAb’s key collaborations in cancer and immunology.

Called the Imaging Biomarker Development Lab (IBDL), the joint laboratory is the latest initiative under the National Research Foundation (NRF) Corp Lab @ University scheme. The IBDL program represents a USD 15 million commitment between ImaginAb, Duke-NUS and the NRF. The laboratory is available to industry and academic collaborators with the goal of developing precision medicine applications for healthcare.

“We are pleased to have this new capability on-line and to have recruited the initial team that will launch this exciting new translational research opportunity,” noted Prof. Patrick Casey, senior vice dean, research, of Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School. “It is particularly important that, in addition to our collaborations with ImaginAb and internal use of the facility, we send a message to our academic and industry collaborators that this capability is available,” he added.

The IBDL will incorporate several specialty core facilities designed to operate in an integrated fashion with Duke-NUS’ existing research services. Furthermore, the IBDL will feature a state-of-the-art molecular imaging facility, operating within Duke-NUS’s specific pathogen-free (SPF) space, a vital resource for immunology-based research.

The new lab was formally launched June 5, 2014, in a public ceremony at the Singapore ArtScience Museum, with Philip Yeo (chairman of SPRING), presiding. Mr. Yeo, chairman of SPRING, commented, “Part of building an effective biomedical ecosystem in Singapore is not just the engagement of global pharmaceutical companies and best-in-class researchers, but the high-growth and high-innovation segments of industry. Singapore has the potential to be a leading “hot spot” in life sciences and biotechnology but this will only happen if we are also able to recruit, and ultimately develop, high-growth firms that can harness Singapore’s entrepreneurial mindset.”

ImaginAb is taking a new approach to diagnostic imaging agents, relying on developing antibodies into smaller protein fragments that zero in on their targets during a PET scan, visualizing a tumor or disease on the molecular level.

Duke-NUS has been involved in diagnostics research before. In 2013, for example, Lim Soon Thye, a researcher from the school and the National Cancer Center Singapore, was part of a group of investigators that developed a diagnostic test to help target and treat a new type of deadly intestinal lymphoma common in Asia.

ImaginAb reported that it would use its new venture funds to expand its pipeline of in vivo imaging agents.

Related Links:
ImaginAb 
Duke-National University Singapore