Peer-reviewed study characterizes in vitro and ex vivo activities of novel antibody agonists generated using Abalone Bio’s FAST Platform
EMERYVILLE, CA, UNITED STATES, February 17, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — Abalone Bio, the only antibody drug company measuring large-scale activity data to drive AI-powered discovery of active antibody treatments for challenging diseases, today announced the peer-reviewed publication of preclinical data describing the first publicly reported functional characterization of cannabinoid receptor 2 (CB2) activating antibody agonists, AB120 and AB150. The study, conducted in collaboration with researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, has been published in Molecular Pharmacology.
The publication presents the first in-depth characterization of the only antibody agonists of CB2 and represents a significant milestone in G protein–coupled receptor (GPCR) and antibody drug development.
Detailed in vitro and ex vivo studies reported in Molecular Pharmacology demonstrate that AB120 and AB150 exhibit robust anti-inflammatory and anti-fibrotic activities, including potent suppression of pro-inflammatory cytokine secretion and significant reductions in collagen expression in human precision-cut liver slices (hPCLS), an advanced and clinically relevant model of liver fibrosis.
“The anti-inflammatory and anti-fibrotic activities produced by Abalone Bio’s CB2 agonist antibodies in precision-cut human liver slices represent a mechanism of action distinct from—and potentially complementary with—existing therapies, and point the way to improved therapies for advanced liver fibrosis,” said Scott L. Friedman, MD, Dean for Collaborative Research and Partnerships and Director of the Mount Sinai Institute for Liver Research at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai; Co-Investigator, NIH/NIDDK SBIR grant 2R44DK125191-02; and paid consultant to Abalone Bio.
The study further highlights the specificity and potency of AB120 and AB150 for CB2 over CB1, a key advantage of antibody therapeutics over traditional small molecules to avoid unwanted CB1 receptor activation, a source of psychotropic and pro-inflammatory or pro-fibrotic side effects. Inherent exclusion of larger molecule drugs like antibodies from the CNS by the blood-brain barrier offers an additional layer of protection from side effects.
“This peer-reviewed publication represents the first public validation of molecules from our metabolic and I&I pipeline and demonstrates the pharmacological activities—including agonism—that we can access with antibodies produced by our FAST platform,” said Richard Yu, PhD, CEO and co-founder of Abalone Bio. “Our ‘Function First’ platform is not biased or constrained by the need for existing structural data, but rather focuses on the only thing that ultimately matters—the functional activity of molecules.”
Abalone Bio is advancing its internal pipeline of metabolic disease therapies while continuing to expand its portfolio of strategic partnerships with pharmaceutical companies leveraging the FAST platform to address hard-to-drug targets. The publication further validates Abalone Bio’s FAST platform as a scalable approach to discovering functionally active antibodies against complex targets such as GPCRs.
About Abalone Bio
Abalone Bio is revolutionizing antibody drug discovery by addressing one of the most challenging problems in pharma: the functional modulation—especially activation—of hard-to-drug membrane proteins, starting with G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs). Through its proprietary Functional Antibody Selection Technology (FAST), Abalone Bio is the only company measuring functional activity data at scale to uniquely leverage AI to create functionally active antibodies. Abalone Bio’s next-generation biologic therapies, starting in metabolic disorders and inflammation, are transforming the landscape of drug discovery.
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