The agreement broadens ALLOZYNE’s bioconjugation footprint and enables the company to exclusively explore new paths of therapeutic development.
SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--ALLOZYNE Inc. announced today the signing of a worldwide, co-exclusive licensing agreement with Sigma-Aldrich giving ALLOZYNE a license for the use of cycloaddition chemistry in the development of therapeutics and diagnostics. Sigma-Aldrich currently holds broad, worldwide intellectual property for the use of cycloaddition chemistry to conjugate biomolecules.
“We are extremely pleased to work with a partner such as Sigma-Aldrich who clearly set the bar for being a leading life sciences company”
“We are extremely pleased to work with a partner such as Sigma-Aldrich who clearly set the bar for being a leading life sciences company,” said Meenu Chhabra, President and CEO of ALLOZYNE. “This partnership will allow us to fortify our leadership position in site specific conjugation of biomolecules containing non-canonical amino acids to create optimized protein therapeutics in various areas of unmet medical need.”
The agreement broadens ALLOZYNE’s bioconjugation footprint and enables the company to exclusively explore new paths of therapeutic development. In addition, it cements ALLOZYNE’s biociphering platforms, which can modify and optimize virtually any protein sequence, as being the broadest in the field of bioconjugation through the application of cycloaddition chemistry. The announcement follows another recently signed license agreement with The Scripps Research Institute giving ALLOZYNE exclusive rights to a specific type of cycloaddition known as “Click chemistry.” Financial details were not disclosed.
ALLOZYNE already holds exclusive rights to platform enabling, biociphering technology originated at Caltech (California Institute of Technology). The technology enables the site specific incorporation of non natural amino acids into proteins which has been shown to be able to make scalable and reproducible quantities of virtually any protein or peptide in both E. coli and mammalian systems. ALLOZYNE’S pre-clinical stage pipeline includes a number of product candidates which are built to address the unmet medical need in a number of disease areas including CNS and autoimmunity as well as a compound currently in human trials.
About ALLOZYNE:
Headquartered in Seattle, ALLOZYNE was established in late 2005, to commercialize proprietary biociphering technology that it licensed, on an exclusive basis, from the California Institute of Technology. The biociphering platforms, CAESAR and VIGENÈRE, are able to site specifically modify any protein sequence through the substitution or addition of non-canonical amino acids, in E. coli, yeast or mammalian systems. These amino acids possess unique chemical functions and create the opportunity to site specifically modify proteins through various conjugations that will lead to an enhanced efficacy, safety and tolerability profile. In essence, these unique amino acids unlock an advanced class of chemical reactions that are superior to conventional methods available for protein modification.
ALLOZYNE has raised $36M and is supported by a top tier venture investor syndicate including MPM, Arch, OVP and Amgen Ventures. The funding has been used to rapidly progress the platforms to practice and build a significant clinical stage pipeline with distinct product opportunities that reflect the breadth of the platform and maintain the company’s focus on CNS and autoimmune diseases. ALLOZYNE’s lead program, AZ01, is a PEGylated interferon β for the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS). Currently in Phase I trials, AZ01 offers potential advantages over existing therapies through enhanced dosing convenience and superior tolerability to existing agents. MS is a chronic disease characterized by demyelination of nerve fibers, which leads to severe nerve damage. Symptoms include fatigue as well as cognitive and visual impairment. In 2009, worldwide revenue for drugs to treat MS approached $9 billion USD with over 70% of sales coming from the interferon β class of products.
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About Sigma-Aldrich:
Sigma-Aldrich is a leading Life Science and High Technology company. Its biochemical and organic chemical products and kits are used in scientific research, including genomic and proteomic research, biotechnology, pharmaceutical development and as key components in pharmaceutical, diagnostic and other high technology manufacturing. The Company has customers in life science companies, university and government institutions, hospitals, and in industry. Over one million scientists and technologists use its products. Sigma-Aldrich operates in 38 countries and has 7,600 employees providing excellent service worldwide. Sigma-Aldrich is committed to Accelerating Customer Success through Innovation and Leadership in Life Science, High Technology and Service. For more information about Sigma-Aldrich, please visit its award-winning Web site at http://www.sigma-aldrich.com.
