Tanox facts for kids
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| Subsidiary | |
| Industry | Biopharmaceutical |
| Fate | acquired by Genentech (2007) |
| Founded | Houston, Texas (1986) |
| Headquarters | Houston, Texas, US |
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Key people
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Nancy Chang (Chairman & Co-Founder) Tse Wen Chang (Founder) |
| Products | Humanized antibody drugs |
| Parent | Genentech |
Tanox was a company that made special medicines called biopharmaceuticals. These medicines are made using living things. The company was located in Houston, Texas.
Two scientists, Nancy T. Chang and Tse Wen Chang, started Tanox in March 1986. They used $250,000 of their own family savings to begin. Both Changs studied chemistry in Taiwan and earned their Ph.D. degrees from Harvard University. Before starting Tanox, they worked on projects involving monoclonal antibodies at another company.
In late 1985, the Changs moved to Houston to work at Baylor College of Medicine. Local leaders encouraged them to start a biotech company there. This was when Houston's economy was struggling because of problems in the oil industry.
The Changs rented a small part of a large empty warehouse. They built their first laboratories there. In 1987, Tanox received $4 million from a famous investor named Moshe Alafi. He had helped start other successful biotech companies like Amgen.
Nancy Chang was the leader of Tanox for 21 years. Tse Wen Chang created most of the company's special technology and patents. Tanox's main work was based on new ideas for "anti-IgE therapy." This therapy used humanized antibodies to target immunoglobulin E (IgE). IgE is a part of the immune system that causes allergic reactions. The goal was to treat allergic diseases.
Tanox hired many skilled scientists and engineers. Many came from the Texas Medical Center. In 2000, Tanox became a public company. Its shares were listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange. The company grew and eventually took over the entire warehouse. It also built more research facilities nearby. Many researchers who worked at Tanox later became top managers at big drug companies.
In August 2007, Genentech bought Tanox for $919 million. This was Genentech's first big purchase. (Genentech itself was later bought by Roche in 2009). Buying Tanox greatly improved Roche/Genentech's future medicine plans. It helped their anti-IgE treatments like Xolair (omalizumab). Other important medicines gained included TNX-355 (Ibalizumab) for AIDS, TNX-650 (Lebrikizumab) for asthma, and TNX-224 for an eye disease. Genentech is also developing Quilizumab for asthma and allergies, based on Tanox's ideas.
Fighting Allergies: The Anti-IgE Program
Tanox began its "anti-IgE therapy" program in 1987. They developed a first version of an antibody. By 1989, they had important information about this antibody.
Tanox's anti-IgE antibodies were designed to target IgE in the blood. They also targeted IgE-carrying B lymphocytes. This stopped the allergic reactions caused by IgE. It was important that these antibodies did not attach to IgE already on mast cells or basophils. If they did, it could cause a dangerous anaphylactic shock. Tanox showed that their antibody would not cause this problem.
To get money for the anti-IgE program, the Changs looked for partners. In 1990, Tanox teamed up with Ciba-Geigy (which later became Novartis). They worked together to develop the anti-IgE program. The antibody was named CGP51901. Its humanized form was later called TNX-901 or talizumab. With Ciba-Geigy's money, Tanox built a large facility to produce CGP51901 for early human testing.
In 1991, Tanox and Ciba-Geigy received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This "investigational new drug" (IND) approval allowed them to test the anti-IgE antibody in humans for the first time. This was a big step. Tanox scientists thought it would be hard to get this approval. They had to show their antibody worked differently from others.
Next, they did a Phase I clinical trial in England. It involved 33 people sensitive to pollen. After solving some issues, they ran a successful Phase II trial in Texas. This trial involved 153 patients with severe allergic rhinitis (hay fever) from mountain cedar pollen. The results showed that CGP51901 helped improve symptoms. This impressed researchers at Genentech who were working on a similar program.
In 1996, Tanox, Novartis, and Genentech formed a three-way partnership. They worked together on the anti-IgE program. A humanized anti-IgE antibody from Genentech, omalizumab, was chosen for further development. It was similar to CGP51901 but had a better way of being made.
Omalizumab, known by its brand name Xolair, was approved by the U.S. FDA in 2003. It was approved for people aged 12 and older with moderate to severe allergic asthma. It was later approved in Europe and other countries for severe asthma.
New Antibody Medicines
Tanox developed several humanized antibody medicines, sometimes with partners:
- Omalizumab, known as Xolair, helps treat allergic asthma.
- TNX-901, also called talizumab. Researchers studied TNX-901 in 84 patients with severe peanut allergies. They found that a dose of TNX-901 greatly increased how much peanut a person could eat before having a reaction. This means it could protect against accidental peanut exposure. This study was a big step in finding a treatment for peanut allergy.
- The "anti-CεmX (or anti-M1’) approach." In 1990, Tse Wen Chang came up with an idea to target specific parts of antibodies on B cells. Tanox scientists later found a special part of an antibody called "CεmX." They filed patents for antibodies against CεmX in 1990. After Genentech bought Tanox, they continued this work. They developed a humanized antibody called quilizumab. Studies have shown that this antibody is safe. It can stop the body from making allergy-causing IgE and reduce allergic reactions. Quilizumab is still being studied.
- TNX-355, also called Ibalizumab, is a humanized antibody. It attaches to a molecule called CD4 on cell surfaces. CD4 is what the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which causes AIDS, uses to enter cells. TNX-355 stops HIV from getting into cells without harming the immune system. This medicine was licensed from another company in 1997. After Tanox was bought, the rights to TNX-355 went to a Taiwanese company. It is now being tested in more studies around the world.
- TNX-650, also called Lebrikizumab, is a humanized antibody. It blocks a protein called interleukin 13 (IL-13). This protein is involved in asthma. When Genentech bought Tanox, early tests for TNX-650 looked good. Genentech has since done more studies on asthma patients. Lebrikizumab is now in large-scale studies for people with asthma that is not controlled by other medicines.
- TNX-224 is an antibody part that targets Factor D in the human complement system. This system is part of the immune system. The medicine is designed to stop inflammation in tissues. Genentech is testing TNX-224 for an eye disease called geographic atrophy.
Other Important Technologies
Besides the medicines for allergies, immune factors, and AIDS, Tanox also had other important patented technologies. These inventions were ahead of their time. They did not make a lot of money for Tanox, but they helped start new fields in science.
- "Antibody matrix" methods. This idea focused on antibody microarrays, which are tiny chips with many different antibodies. Tse Wen Chang invented this in 1983. When the Changs started Tanox, they bought the rights to these patents. Tanox tried to develop ways to measure immune cells in the blood. This could help monitor people with HIV. However, the anti-IgE program and other medicine programs took all of Tanox's resources. So, the antibody matrix program was not continued.
- A method for "selecting low-frequency antigen-specific single B lymphocytes for performing PCR for making antibodies." Tse Wen Chang invented this in 1992. This method helps create monoclonal antibodies, especially human ones. It involves finding rare B lymphocytes that make specific antibodies. Then, scientists use polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to get the genetic information for those antibodies. In recent years, more research groups have started using similar methods to make human monoclonal antibodies.
