California-based biotech expands R&D footprint at the Pennsylvania Biotechnology Center (PABC)

IGM Biosciences business units are pioneering the development of therapeutic IgM antibodies for infectious, autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. 

Doylestown, Jan. 27, 2022 – The nonprofit Pennsylvania Biotechnology Center (PABC), one of the nation’s most successful life sciences incubators, is proud to announce that IGM Biosciences Inc. (Nasdaq: IGMS) of Mountain View, Calif., is one of the center’s newest member companies and will be expanding its R&D footprint  at the PABC’s Doylestown campus.

IGM Biosciences is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on creating and developing IgM antibodies. IGM’s proprietary IgM technology platform is able to overcome the manufacturing and protein engineering hurdles that have historically limited the therapeutic use of IgM antibodies and allows for the development of IgM antibodies for clinical indications where their inherent properties may provide advantages as compared to IgG antibodies.

IGM’s business units, IGM Infectious Diseases and IGM Autoimmunity and Inflammation, will be headquartered in PABC’s Doylestown campus. IGM expects that up to 30 scientists and other IGM professionals may be working at the Bucks County facility.

“We are pleased to announce today the opening of the headquarters for our two innovative business units,” said Mary Beth Harler, MD, President, IGM Autoimmunity and Inflammation. “The PABC has proven itself to be an excellent environment for life sciences companies, and we’re very pleased to be opening an operation in close proximity to Philadelphia, New York, and Boston.  This region offers a wealth of expertise and experience in the biotech and pharmaceutical sectors, and we look forward to establishing an IGM presence in this area”.

“As the global leader in the development of engineered IgM antibodies, we believe IGM Biosciences has the potential to create exciting new therapies for a multitude of indications beyond oncology, and we are pleased today to announce the opening of dedicated lab space for these efforts,” said Tong-Ming Fu, M.D., Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer, IGM Infectious Diseases.

Louis P. Kassa, PABC’s executive vice president and chief operating officer, said: “We’re excited that such a fast-growing, innovative life sciences company from California’s Silicon Valley has chosen to become part of our community. Clearly the PABC has earned a national reputation for offering a distinctive culture that provides entrepreneurs and early-stage companies with a highly supportive environment in the best location for the life sciences on the East Coast.”

IGM believes it has the most advanced research and development program focused on IgM antibodies. The company has created a proprietary IgM antibody technology platform that it believes is particularly well suited for developing T cell engagers, receptor cross-linking agonists and targeted cytokines. IGM Infectious Diseases and IGM Autoimmunity and Inflammation plan to utilize and build upon IGM’s platform technology to create and develop novel IgM and IgA antibodies to address infectious, autoimmune, and inflammatory diseases.   

About the Pennsylvania Biotechnology Center (PABC): The PABC is a nonprofit life sciences incubator-accelerator, offering state-of-the-art laboratory and office space to early stage biotech companies, as well as the Hepatitis B Foundation and Blumberg Institute. Managed by the Institute and led by a board appointed by the Foundation, PABC has more than 80 member companies, mostly small to mid-size science, research and pharmaceutical companies. Nearly 50 of those companies have operations on site. The center uses a highly successful services-based approach to nurture and guide its member companies to success, advancing biotechnology, maximizing synergies among nonprofit scientists and their commercial colleagues, and launching new ideas and discoveries that will make a difference. PABC is located just north of Doylestown in Bucks County, in the heart of the Philadelphia-New Jersey pharma and biotech belt.

About IGM Biosciences: Headquartered in Mountain View, California, IGM Biosciences is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on creating and developing IgM antibodies. Since 2010, IGM Biosciences has worked to overcome the manufacturing and protein engineering hurdles that have limited the therapeutic use of IgM antibodies. Through its efforts, IGM Biosciences has created a proprietary IgM technology platform for the development of IgM antibodies for those clinical indications where their inherent properties may provide advantages as compared to IgG antibodies.