XBiotech Inc. is a clinical-stage

biopharmaceutical A biopharmaceutical, also known as a biological medical product, or biologic, is any pharmaceutical drug product manufactured in, extracted from, or semisynthesized from biological sources. Different from totally synthesized pharmaceuticals, t ...

company based in

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

. It specializes in the

research and development Research and development (R&D or R+D), known in some countries as OKB, experiment and design, is the set of innovative activities undertaken by corporations or governments in developing new services or products. R&D constitutes the first stage ...

of human-derived antibody therapeutics for multiple diseases, including

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

rheumatological Rheumatism or rheumatic disorders are conditions causing chronic, often intermittent pain affecting the joints or connective tissue. Rheumatism does not designate any specific disorder, but covers at least 200 different conditions, including ar ...

, and

infectious disease An infection is the invasion of tissue (biology), tissues by pathogens, their multiplication, and the reaction of host (biology), host tissues to the infectious agent and the toxins they produce. An infectious disease, also known as a transmis ...

History

XBiotech was founded in 2005 in

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

by John Simard. The company moved its headquarters to

in 2008. In September 2016, XBiotech was listed on

Nasdaq The Nasdaq Stock Market (; National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations) is an American stock exchange based in New York City. It is the most active stock trading venue in the U.S. by volume, and ranked second on the list ...

, raising $70.9 million through its

initial public offering An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investm ...

(IPO). The company allocated about $42 million of the proceeds to complete later-stage trials for one of its key cancer drugs and to construct a new manufacturing and research facility in southeast Austin. The remaining funds were used for earlier-stage trials of other products and general corporate purposes. In March 2017, XBiotech announced a registered direct offering in which it sold over $30 million of its common shares at a price of $13 per share. In the same year, XBiotech opened a 40,000-square-foot production facility in Southeast Austin. In October 2017, XBiotech enrolled its first patient in a clinical study to evaluate the effectiveness of its antibody MABp1 in combination with ONIVYDE and 5-fluorouracil/folinic acid for treating

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of ...

. In December 2019, XBiotech's drug for dermatological conditions, Bermekimab, was acquired by Janssen Pharmaceutical, a subsidiary of

Johnson & Johnson Johnson & Johnson (J&J) is an American multinational pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical technologies corporation headquartered in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange. Its common stock is a c ...

, for $750 million. XBiotech is eligible for up to $600 million in milestone payments, potentially increasing the total value of the deal to $1.35 billion. During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, XBiotech worked with BioBridge Global to offer its antibody screening technology to the South Texas Blood & Tissue Center. The technology identified patients with natural antibodies effective against the virus. XBiotech also developed a COVID-19 therapy candidate by isolating specific antibodies and their genes from

convalescent plasma Convalescent plasma is the blood plasma collected from a survivor of an infectious disease. This plasma contains antibodies specific to a pathogen and can be used therapeutically by providing passive immunity when transfusing it to a newly infected ...

, aiming to create a mass-producible, purified antibody product.

Xilonix

XBiotech is known for developing Xilonix, a candidate therapeutic for treating advanced

colorectal cancer Colorectal cancer (CRC), also known as bowel cancer, colon cancer, or rectal cancer, is the development of cancer from the Colon (anatomy), colon or rectum (parts of the large intestine). Signs and symptoms may include Lower gastrointestinal ...

by targeting tumor-associated inflammation, an approach intended to inhibit both

tumor A neoplasm () is a type of abnormal and excessive growth of tissue. The process that occurs to form or produce a neoplasm is called neoplasia. The growth of a neoplasm is uncoordinated with that of the normal surrounding tissue, and persists ...

growth and

metastasis Metastasis is a pathogenic agent's spreading from an initial or primary site to a different or secondary site within the host's body; the term is typically used when referring to metastasis by a cancerous tumor. The newly pathological sites, ...

. Xilonix received fast-track designation from the

United States Food and Drug Administration The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is respo ...

in 2012 and had progressed to Phase 3 trials in both the United States and

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

by 2016. In February 2017, XBiotech reported in an SEC filing that it had received an extension from European regulators to address deficiencies the agency was asserting in the registration application. The company indicated it expected to meet the new deadline of March 22 to respond to these issues.

References

{{reflist Companies based in Austin, Texas Companies listed on the Nasdaq Companies established in 2005 2005 establishments in Canada Pharmaceutical companies