Antigens are important markers that alert the immune system to a foreign invader, such as cancer cells, and prompt T cells to attack and destroy the invader.
Antigens are an essential element in the development of powerful, targeted cancer vaccines.
Genzyme Molecular Oncology estimates that the selected antigens will be less than half of the total number of antigens it expects to discover during the research term. Genzyme Molecular Oncology will use its own proprietary technologies, including gene therapy, cell therapy, peptide, and protein-based technologies, against these antigen targets for its cancer product development. Not only will we receive significant research funding for our program, but we may use the antigens discovered under the agreement in our own approaches for developing cancer vaccines. We anticipate that this collaboration with Genzyme Molecular Oncology will yield novel antigen targets against which we can apply our proprietary technologies to develop new anticancer drugs and vaccines. The significant strength and speed of its antigen discovery program distinguishes Genzyme Molecular Oncology as a leader in the antigen discovery field.