Pieris progresses development of its proprietary biotherapeutics platform: successful demonstration of dual targeting with Duocalin® technology

Freising-Weihenstephan, Germany (ots) - Pieris AG, a
bio-pharmaceutical company developing Anticalins®, a novel class of
targeted human protein therapeutics, announced today that its
proprietary Duocalin® technology has successfully demonstrated dual
targeting potential. Commenting on this development, Dr Andreas
Hohlbaum, Director of Science and Preclinical Development of Pieris
said: "As Pieris continues to validate the therapeutic application of
its technologies, dual targeting is viewed as a major step forward.
Combining the benefits of bivalent, avid binding of disease targets
with the ability to modulate two targets at once shows the clear
development potential of the Duocalin® technology to treat
multi-factorial diseases".

Using individual monomeric Anticalins® selected to have picomolar
binding affinity to distinct determinants on two defined clinically
validated targets, Pieris has constructed Duocalins® as monomeric,
bivalent binding proteins that retain target specificity and affinity
regardless of the structural orientation of their binding domains.
Furthermore, the high intrinsic stability of Duocalins® is comparable
to monomeric Anticalins®, offering flexible formulation and delivery
potential for Duocalin®-based drug candidates.

Despite the low molecular weight of monomeric Anticalins® relative
to antibodies, their core scaffold provides a highly selective
binding site with high structural plasticity and an extensive binding
surface comparable to that achieved with antibodies. The adaptability
of the Anticalin® scaffold has already allowed Pieris to develop
therapeutic and diagnostic product candidates with custom designed
functionality. Duocalins® allow multiple targets to be bound and
modulated through a single molecule, which is particularly
advantageous in diseases known to involve more than a single
causative factor. Moreover, bi- or multivalent binding formats such
as Duocalins® have significant potential in targeting cell surface
molecules in disease, mediating agonistic effects on signal
transduction pathways or inducing enhanced internalization effects
via binding and clustering of cell surface receptors. The data will
be presented for the first time on June 25th 2007 at IBC's second
annual "Beyond Antibodies" Conference in Coronado, CA, USA.

For further information, please contact: Pieris AG Dr Birgit Zech,
Sr Manager Business Development, Phone +49 (0) 8161 1411 400

Notes to editors

About Pieris AG

Pieris is a biopharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery and
development of Anticalins, a novel class of targeted protein
therapeutics, for the diagnosis and treatment of life-threatening
human disorders. Exploiting extensive know-how in protein engineering
as part of a broad intellectual property portfolio, the Company
applies a balanced risk business model to the development of its
Anticalin candidates.

About the Anticalin® technology

Anticalins are derived from the lipocalin scaffold, originally
developed by Prof. Dr. Arne Skerra, a leading expert in the field and
Head of the Department of Biological Chemistry at the Technical
University of Munich, Germany. As engineered human proteins,
Anticalins have prescribed binding properties with fundamental
similarities to fully human antibodies e.g. picomolar potency and
expected low immunogenicity. Anticalins have several additional
advantages over conventional antibodies due to their small size (20
kDa), robust tertiary structure and straight composition that confer
high solubility, predictable stability and bacterial
manufacturability. Fast pharmaco-kinetics and favorable tissue
penetration of Anticalins can be balanced through adjustable
modulation of serum half-life. Pieris and its collaborators are not
only able to develop superior biotherapeutics, but they also have the
ability to overcome the encumbering patent landscape as currently
present for the development of conventional antibodies.

About the Duocalin® technology

Pieris can format Anticalin leads as dual targeting proteins,
so-called Duocalins. A Duocalin binds two separate therapeutic
targets in one easily produced protein using standard manufacturing
processes. Duocalins will create new market opportunities by offering
novel therapeutic rationales, better efficacy and increased patient
coverage.

Further information is available at http://www.pieris-ag.com
Anticalin®, Duocalin®, are registered trademarks of Pieris AG.

Originaltext: Pieris AG
digital press kits: http://presseportal.de/story.htx?firmaid=61954
press kits via RSS: feed://presseportal.de/rss/pm_61954.rss2

contact:
Dr Birgit Zech, Sr Manager Business Development,
Phone +49 (0) 8161 1411 400