Our founding discoveries came from the labs of Prof. Takagi and Prof Suga (the 2023 winner of the Wolf Prize in Chemistry), both of whom are deeply involved in our R&D to this day. Their innovations enable a novel class of biologics, called “Neobiologics,” that break existing boundaries in biological drug development and will ultimately better, more cost-effective treatments for patients. Internally and with our partners, we are advancing a robust portfolio of products:
1. cMet agonist to HGF (hepatocyte growth factor) to tackle NASH (non-alcoholic steatohepatitis)/fibrosis; currently in IND enabling studies.
2. TrkB agonist of BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor) to tackle neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimers Disease and Parkinson’s Disease; currently in vivo studies.
3. Immuno-oncology bi-specific with T-cell engaging activity and a tumor antigen-specific binder; currently in vitro R&D.
4. Undisclosed assets in various stages.
This pipeline builds off our core RaPID System and LassoGraft Technology® (LGT) platforms. The RaPID System selects highly active cyclic peptides that tightly bind to drug-target proteins from our diverse library. These peptides are then genetically grafted onto scaffold proteins using LGT to create Neobiologics. Neobiologics break multiple current boundaries for biologics, such as access across the blood-brain barrier, 3D topological design control, multifunctionality (bi-specific, tri-specific, etc.), wide applicability from AAV capsid modulation to antibodies to therapeutic proteins and superior development speeds that drop development costs significantly.
Selected publications
1. Mihara, E et al. Lasso-grafting of macrocyclic peptide pharmacophores yields multi-functional proteins. Nature Communications (2021)2:1543
2. Sakai, K et al. Designing receptor agonists with enhanced pharmacokinetics by grafting macrocyclic peptides into fragment crystallizable regions. Nature Biomedical Engineering 7, 164-176 (2023)
