Cambridge Antibody Technology
Defunct British biotechnology company / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Cambridge Antibody Technology (officially Cambridge Antibody Technology Group Plc, informally CAT) was a biotechnology company headquartered in Cambridge, England, United Kingdom. Its core focus was on antibody therapeutics, primarily using Phage Display and Ribosome Display technology.
Company type | Public limited company |
---|---|
LSE: CAT Nasdaq: CATG | |
Industry | Biopharmaceutical |
Founded | 1989 (Daly Laboratories, Babraham) |
Founder | David Chiswell, Sir Greg Winter, John McCafferty, Medical Research Council |
Defunct | 2007 (2007) |
Fate | Acquired by AstraZeneca in 2006; combined with MedImmune in 2007 |
Successor | MedImmune |
Headquarters | Granta Park, Cambridgeshire, England, United Kingdom |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | David Chiswell (CEO 1996–2002) Peter Chambré (CEO 2003–2006) |
Products | Adalimumab, discovery of; belimumab discovery of |
Services | Therapeutic monoclonal antibody discovery and development |
Revenue | £172.50m (six months ending 31 March 2006*) |
£147.25m (six months ending 31 March 2006*) | |
£25.25m (six months ending 31 March 2006*) | |
Total assets | £215.98m (six months ending 31 March 2006*) |
Total equity | £180.97m (six months ending 31 March 2006*) |
Owner | AstraZeneca |
Number of employees | Approximately 300 (2006) |
Footnotes / references *Financials for six-month period prior to acquisition by AstraZeneca were distorted by the settlement for royalties payable on Adalimumab sales |
Phage Display Technology was used by CAT to create adalimumab, the first fully human antibody blockbuster drug. Humira, the brand name of adalimumab, is an anti-TNF antibody discovered by CAT as D2E7, then developed in the clinic and marketed by Abbvie, formerly Abbott Laboratories. CAT was also behind belimumab, the anti-BlyS antibody drug marketed as Benlysta and the first new approved drug for systemic lupus in more than 50 years.[1] In 2018, the Nobel Prize organisation awarded one quarter of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry to a founding member of CAT, Sir Greg Winter FRS "for the phage display of peptides and antibodies.".[2]
Founded in 1989, CAT was acquired by AstraZeneca for £702m in 2006.[3][4] AstraZeneca subsequently acquired MedImmune LLC,[5] which it combined with CAT to form a global biologics R&D division called MedImmune.[6] CAT was often described as the 'jewel in the crown' of the British biotechnology industry[7] and during the latter years of its existence was the subject of frequent acquisition speculation.