Canadian companies to partner on novel antibody therapies
VoxCell BioInnovation and adMare BioInnovations have announced a research partnership to advance novel antibody therapies in non-animal models.
VoxCell says its human-relevant vascularised tissue platform brings together human tumour, immune, and stromal compartments alongside a perfused, endothelial-lined vasculature in a single bioprinted construct.
The result is a human-like system that recapitulates antibody delivery, immune activity, and downstream tumour biology, with quantitative readouts across efficacy and safety endpoints that legacy in vitro and in vivo models struggle to deliver.
The partnership comes as the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advances its plan to significantly reduce animal testing for monoclonal antibodies and other biologics, expanding the use of New Approach Methodologies (NAMs). This includes human-relevant 3D tissue platforms, organ-on-chip systems, and AI-based models, to improve preclinical translation rates.
“Animal models often miss the biology that determines whether a human drug works,” said Dr Karolina Valente, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Scientific Officer of VoxCell.
“Our vascularised tissues bring perfusion, endothelial barriers, immune cells, and stroma into one human-relevant system.
“Working with adMare on a novel biologic is exactly the use case the FDA had in mind when it called for more predictive, human-relevant tools. The result is better decisions earlier, and fewer animals used along the way.”
“adMare’s mission is to translate breakthrough scientific discoveries into strong, investable Canadian life science companies and new therapies that reach patients,” added Matthew Carlyle, President and CEO of adMare BioInnovations.
“That requires more than capital – it requires hands-on company building support and access to the right commercial R&D tools early on.
“By integrating VoxCell’s human-relevant vascularised tissue platform into our scientific and commercial validation process we can generate stronger preclinical safety and efficacy evidence sooner. This helps us de-risk innovation, create long-term value, and turn promising science into scalable, globally competitive Canadian companies.”