MONROVIA, Calif., Sept. 24, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Xencor, Inc. (NASDAQ: XNCR), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing engineered monoclonal antibodies for the treatment of autoimmune diseases, asthma and allergic diseases, and cancer, today announced that its partner CSL Limited has initiated, through its licensee Janssen Biotech Inc., a Phase 2 clinical trial for CSL362 (now called JNJ-56022473), which uses Xencor's XmAb® Cytotoxic Fc Domain.

"CSL's program is the third drug candidate using our XmAb technology to start Phase 2 clinical trials," said Bassil Dahiyat, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer of Xencor. "By selectively licensing our XmAb technology, we believe we create value in non-core areas, thus allowing us to focus on advancing our key internal development programs."

Xencor will receive an undisclosed milestone payment for the initiation of Phase 2 testing.  Under the terms of the agreement signed in February 2009, Xencor granted CSL Limited a non-exclusive license to Xencor Cytotoxic Fc Domains for use in CSL programs, including CSL362. Xencor is also eligible to receive additional milestone payments and royalties on sales. In 2013, CSL Limited licensed CSL362 to Janssen Biotech Inc. 

About XmAb® Antibody Engineering Technology

In contrast to conventional approaches to antibody design that focus on the Fv domain responsible for binding to target cells, Xencor's XmAb® antibody engineering technology focuses on the Fc domain, the portion of the antibody that interacts with multiple segments of the immune system. Xencor's XmAb® Fc domains have shown an ability in preclinical and clinical studies to enhance antibody performance while typically maintaining over 99.5% identity in structure and sequence to natural antibodies. This design allows our engineered antibodies to retain the beneficial stability, pharmacokinetics and ease of discovery of natural antibodies, while utilizing validated methods for antibody manufacturing.

About Xencor, Inc.

Xencor is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing engineered monoclonal antibodies for the treatment of asthma and allergic diseases, autoimmune diseases and cancer. Currently, eight candidates that have been engineered with Xencor's XmAb® technology are in clinical development internally and with partners. Xencor's internally-discovered programs include: XmAb5871, which completed a Phase 1b/2a clinical trial for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and is in preparation for a clinical trial in IgG4-related disease in 2015; XmAb7195 in Phase 1a development for the treatment of asthma; and XmAb5574/MOR208 which has been licensed to Morphosys AG and is in Phase 2 clinical trials for the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia and non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Xencor's XmAb antibody engineering technology enables small changes to the structure of monoclonal antibodies resulting in new mechanisms of therapeutic action. Xencor partners include Amgen, Merck, Janssen R&D LLC, Alexion, Novo Nordisk and Boehringer Ingelheim. For more information, please visit www.xencor.com.    

Forward Looking Statements

Certain statements included in this press release may be considered forward-looking, including the quotation from our President and CEO and any expectations relating to our clinical trials or our capital requirements. Such statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those implied by such statements, and therefore these statements should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results. All forward-looking statements are based on Xencor's current beliefs as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to Xencor and relate to, among other things, anticipated financial performance, business prospects, strategies, regulatory developments, clinical trial enrollment and results, market acceptance and future commitments. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. Due to risks and uncertainties, including the risks and uncertainties identified by Xencor in its public securities filings; actual events may differ materially from current expectations. Xencor disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise

Investor Contact:
Xencor
John Kuch, Vice President Finance
626-737-8013

Or

Corporate Communications Contact:
Canale Communications
Jason Spark
619-849-6005

To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/xencors-partner-initiates-phase-2-clinical-trial-of-a-biologic-candidate-using-xmab-cytotoxic-fc-domain-300147949.html

SOURCE Xencor, Inc.