Melbourne, Australia, 11 April, 2016 - AdAlta Limited, the drug discovery and development company, today announced the first publication of a scientific peer-reviewed paper describing the multiple potential applications of its i-body platform technology to address a number of major unmet medical needs.
The publication describing the i-body has been published in the April issue of the prestigious and well respected international scientific journal “The Journal of Biological Chemistry”.
The paper describes the new class of small, highly specific and stable fully human protein therapeutics that have been designed to mimic the highly stable structure or shape and exceptional targeting and antigen binding properties of shark antibodies. AdAlta scientists and collaborators have demonstrated that the long binding loop of the i-body, that is lacking in traditional antibodies, can bind to a diverse range of different therapeutically-relevant targets including those that are difficult/intractable to access by current antibody therapies such as G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs).
In 2015, 60 percent of sales from the world top 20 drugs, were from antibodies, with global sales of US$81 billion from these antibodies alone.
G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) and ion channels have traditionally been targeted by small molecule drugs, which account for approximately 40% of all drugs currently on the market. Small molecules can have an increased risk of toxicity and off target side effects due to their lack of specificity. With their high affinity and specificity and long binding loop, the i-body can access GPCRs and ion channels without the off-target side effects common with small molecule drugs.
AdAlta Chief Executive Officer Sam Cobb said, “The publication confirms the significant potential benefits and potential value of AdAlta’s unique i-body and highlights our research among the broader international scientific community.”
AdAlta is utilising the power of its i-body technology platform to develop a pipeline of i-body candidate drugs, with an initial focus on treating fibrotic diseases.
Full copy of the publication: http://www.jbc.org/content/early/2016/04/01/jbc.M116.721050.abstract
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Notes To Editors
About AdAlta
AdAlta Pty Ltd is an Australian based drug development company headquartered in Melbourne. The Company focus is its proprietary technology platform, which is a new class of protein therapeutics known as i-bodies, and their application as therapeutic drugs to treat disease.
The i-body is a synthetic human analogue of the shark antibody, which combines the advantages of monoclonal antibodies (high target specificity and affinity) with the beneficial stability features of small molecules. In addition to stability, the i-body has a long binding loop that is a feature of shark antibodies not present in human antibodies or other next generation antibodies. This feature enables the i-body to recognise and bind to a diverse range of different therapeutically-relevant drug targets, including those that are difficult/intractable to access by current antibody therapies. These include clinically important targets such as G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) and ion channels.
AdAlta’s initial focus is to develop its lead i-body candidate, AD-114, for the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and other human fibrotic diseases, for which current therapies are sub-optimal and there is a high-unmet medical need.
The Company also plans to continue further drug discovery and development directed towards other drug targets and diseases with its i-body technology platform.
Further information can be found at www.adalta.com.au
Issued for and on behalf of AdAlta Limited by Instinctif Partners.
For more information please contact:
At the company
Sam Cobb
Chief Executive Officer
AdAlta Limited
Tel: +61 (0)3 9479 5159
E: s.cobb@adalta.com.au
Media (International)
Sue Charles/Daniel Gooch
Instinctif Partners
Tel: +44 (0)20 7866 7905
E: adalta@instinctif.com
