Blinkbio Announces Discovery Collaboration With Janssen Pharmaceutical To Optimize Self-Assembling Dimers Targeting Protein-Protein Interactions

JUPITER, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--BlinkBio Inc., a privately held, biotechnology company, today announced that it has entered into a collaboration agreement with Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc., in the discovery research area, in order to accelerate the optimization of prototype leads discovered in the Company’s self-assembling dimer program targeting the inhibition of Protein-Protein Interactions (PPIs).

“We are excited about this opportunity to collaborate with Janssen”

The BlinkBio proprietary self-assembling linker technology platform seeks to address challenging PPI targets like MYC and p53 by bridging the gap between small molecule drugs - which can enter target cells but generally lack a large enough binding footprint to provide sufficient potency and specificity - and large biomolecule drugs (like antibodies) which can generate outstanding target specificity but cannot access these key intracellular PPI targets. The technology utilizes a pair of monomers (comprised of a ligand, connectors and a bioorthogonal linker element) designed to access the cell and bind proximal binding sites on PPIs. The linker elements are designed to react to form a larger inhibitory dimer. The Janssen collaboration will build upon our early proof-of-concept work that was published earlier this year (PLoS ONE (April 2015) 10(4):e0121793). Terms of the Agreement were not disclosed.

“We are excited about this opportunity to collaborate with Janssen,” commented Dr. Colin Goddard, Chairman & CEO of Blink Bio, ”We believe our self-assembling dimer platform continues to have great potential and that the progress of our program will undoubtedly benefit from access to Janssen’s vast discovery and chemical library assets along with their strong discovery team”

About BlinkBio Inc. BlinkBio Inc. is focused on utilizing a suite of proprietary Bioorthogonal LINKer chemistries to solve challenging problems in the delivery of targeted therapies. The BlinkBio team has developed two major linker chemistry platforms. Our cleavable linker platform provides exquisite pH sensitive cleavage dynamics ideal for applications in next-generation Small Molecule and Antibody Drug Conjugates (SMDCs and ADCs). We believe that the ability to rapidly release SMDC/ADC payloads in the endosome of the target cell, while maintaining linker stability in the circulation, is a significant advantage over contemporary linkers. Our self-assembling linker platform, licensed as “Coferons” from Cornell and Purdue universities, offers the potential to address challenging and intractable targets inside the cell, like the Protein:Protein Interaction (PPI) targets MYC and p53. Our business strategy is focused on developing our novel SMDCs/ADCs through to clinical development, while using an early partnering model for the self-assembling linker projects – where access to high quality proprietary chemical library and discovery resources provides a premium for success.

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