London, UK, 27 September 2010 – PolyTherics Limited (“PolyTherics”), an innovator in precision engineering of proteins, today announced a new collaboration with Professor Anisur Rahman at UCL (University College London), to use its proprietary site-specific PEGylation to develop a treatment for antiphospholipid syndrome. Professor Rahman and his team have been awarded a 5-year grant of nearly £700,000 from Arthritis Research UK to support the work.
Antiphospholipid syndrome (APS), also known as ‘sticky blood’ syndrome, is an autoimmune disease that particularly affects young people and causes blood clots, strokes or recurrent miscarriages. It occurs more commonly in patients with autoimmune rheumatic diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus. Patients with APS have antibodies to their own phospholipid which bind to phospholipid-protein complexes in the body. This is thought to trigger changes that affect blood clotting. There is no cure for APS; patients are sometimes given anti-coagulant drugs to prevent blood clots but these can have serious side effects.
Professor Rahman and the UCL team have developed proteins that block the binding of anti-phospholipid antibodies to phospholipid-protein complexes in the bloodstream. The next step is to improve the characteristics of these proteins so that they circulate in the body for longer whilst retaining their ability to block this binding. PolyTherics’ proprietary site-specific PEGylation technology is designed to achieve this and its scientists will work closely with the UCL team to produce PEGylated versions of the proteins, which will then be tested by Professor Rahman’s group. Anisur Rahman commented “I am delighted to have the opportunity to work with PolyTherics again and build upon our successful feasibility study in this area.”
Keith Powell, CEO of PolyTherics, stated that: “The challenge for many potential protein-based treatments is getting them to remain in the body long enough to have a therapeutic effect. We are excited to be working with Professor Rahman to achieve this for a much-needed treatment for this serious but still under-diagnosed condition.”
PolyTherics has substantial expertise in the targeted modification of proteins and proteins with therapeutic potential through its platform of site specific PEGylation technologies. Its most advanced programme is an interferon alpha PEGylated using its HiPEG™ technology that has just entered development as a biobetter medicine. PolyTherics has an exclusive worldwide sub-licensable right to develop and commercialise the proteins for APS being developed with the team at UCL.
PolyTherics Limited
PolyTherics is a biopharmaceutical company that applies precision chemistry to develop improved protein and peptide-based drugs. It received investment of £2.3 million from Imperial Innovations Group plc, Longbow Capital LLP and The Capital Fund in June 2007 and a further £3.0 million investment from the same syndicate in February 2010.
PolyTherics has developed three proprietary technologies for attaching the polymer poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) to any therapeutic peptide or protein in a targeted fashion. PEGylation slows elimination from the body, thereby improving half-life and potentially reducing drug treatment frequency, decreasing side effects and improving patient compliance.
PEGylated products derived from PolyTherics’ technologies are more homogeneous than those derived from traditional methods, resulting in reduced complexity of downstream processing, more consistent product quality and cost-effective manufacture. PEGylation is an established method for improving drugs and nine PEGylated products are already approved for therapeutic use worldwide.
For more information, please visit: www.polytherics.co.uk
Arthritis Research UK
Arthritis Research UK is a major medical research charity, leading the fight against arthritis, working to take the pain away from all sufferers of arthritis and helping people to remain active. It does this by funding high quality research, providing information, and campaigning.
About UCL
Founded in 1826, UCL was the first English university established after Oxford and Cambridge, the first to admit students regardless of race, class, religion or gender, and the first to provide systematic teaching of law, architecture and medicine. UCL is the fourth-ranked university in the 2010 QS World University Rankings. UCL alumni include Marie Stopes, Jonathan Dimbleby, Lord Woolf, Alexander Graham Bell, and members of the band Coldplay. UCL currently has over 12,000 undergraduate and 8,000 postgraduate students. Its annual income is over £600 million.
For more information:
PolyTherics:
Tim Watson, Tony Stephenson College Hill Tel: +44 (0)207 866 7861 Email: polytherics@collegehill.com
