In vivo proof of concept for Anticalins(r)
Freising, Germany. PIERIS Proteolab AG, a leading biopharmaceutical and protein engineering company, announced that one of its lead development candidates, Digical, completely neutralized lethal toxicity caused by an overdose of the cardiac steroid digoxin in a preclinical study. The dose of this Anticalin(r) was only approximately half the recommended dose of a marketed polyclonal antibody fragment product approved for the same purpose.
Recently, PIERIS has generated lipocalin muteins named Anticalins(r) against more than half a dozen protein targets with very high affinity and specificity. Now, the company has demonstrated therapeutic efficacy in a relevant preclinical model. This underlines the company's ability to generate development candidates from its proprietary Anticalin(r) technology platform. These Anticalins(r) are able to compete with antibodies.
"This reinforces our strong belief that Anticalins(r) themselves can serve as biopharmaceutical drugs," stated Martin Pöhlchen, PhD, Chief Executive Officer of PIERIS. "The antagonistic mode of action is relevant to many indications and is one of the corner stones for our internal product development strategy."
"Further to our high affinity Anticalins(r) against protein targets we have now developed Anticalins(r) against hapten targets, with an affinity as low as 100 picomolar," stated Prof Arne Skerra, co-founder of PIERIS.
Steffen Schlehuber, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer and co-founder of PIERIS commented, "The results of our in vivo studies emphasize the molecular benefits offered by Anticalins(r) in the complexation of small molecules. The combination of these data with the proven binding characteristics, safety data, stability and manufacturing advantages make Anticalins(r) promising active ingredients for many diverse applications."
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Topic world Antibodies
Antibodies are specialized molecules of our immune system that can specifically recognize and neutralize pathogens or foreign substances. Antibody research in biotech and pharma has recognized this natural defense potential and is working intensively to make it therapeutically useful. From monoclonal antibodies used against cancer or autoimmune diseases to antibody-drug conjugates that specifically transport drugs to disease cells - the possibilities are enormous
