BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Alloy Therapeutics today announced the appointment of Christian Cobaugh, Ph.D., as Chief Executive Officer of Alloy Genetic Medicines. Through its partnerships, the Genetic Medicines division is dedicated to developing AntiClastic™ nucleic acid medicines to treat diseases at the genetic level.
Alloy’s AntiClastic technology is a proprietary cyclic nucleic acid technology that Alloy and its partners have applied to antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) to improve the potency of RNase H-mediated decay of mRNA and regulatory RNAs, modulate splicing, and trigger ADAR; to siRNA for improved RNAi; and to sgRNA for gene editing. Alloy Genetic Medicines has integrated AI-based sequence design, oligonucleotide synthesis using validated nucleotide chemistries and QC, drug discovery and preclinical testing, and alliance management to rapidly advance partnered programs from therapeutic concepts to development candidates. AntiClastic development candidates exhibit improved potency and reduced inflammatory responses, resulting in an improved therapeutic index. The Genetic Medicines division has also partnered with Alloy’s Antibody Powered division to discover and develop best-in-class antibody-based shuttles for the AntiClastics and other oligonucleotides. Alloy’s AntiClastic platform unlocks the full therapeutic power of RNA medicines by precisely targeting intracellular disease targets at the RNA level.
“Alloy Genetic Medicines has created a broadly applicable step change in the potency and safety of nucleic acid medicines that is allowing our partners to develop better medicines for all their patients,” commented Cobaugh. “I am honored to be tasked with leading Genetic Medicines as we utilize the AntiClastic platform to rethink what ASOs, siRNA, and other RNA-based therapeutics can achieve within the broader genetic medicines toolbox. I am extremely optimistic about the progress we will make in the months and years ahead.”
Cobaugh brings more than 15 years of leadership experience in genetic medicines, with deep expertise in nucleic acid-based therapeutics, including mRNA, lipid nanoparticle (LNP) delivery, gene editing, and CMC. He was the founding CEO of the CDMO Vernal Biosciences, led research for the Alexion–Moderna partnership, and has led discovery, development, and manufacturing teams at other innovative companies, Arcturus Therapeutics, CRISPR Therapeutics, Translate Bio, and Omega Therapeutics.
“Christian is an exceptional addition to Alloy Therapeutics and a natural leader for our Genetic Medicines unit,” said Errik Anderson, Chief Executive Officer and Founder, Alloy Therapeutics. “His experience across mRNA, LNP, and other nucleic acid therapeutics, combined with our AntiClastic platform and the wealth of scientific expertise across our teams, will help partners advance exciting, differentiated genetic medicines.”
About the Alloy Therapeutics Genetic Medicines AntiClastic™ Antisense Platform
The AntiClastic cyclic RNA Platform is a novel therapeutic format—exclusively available through Alloy Therapeutics partnerships—that is designed to overcome potency and therapeutic index challenges that have historically limited the promise of antisense drugs. Sudhir Agrawal invented the core technology, which combines improvements in the primary sequence with a novel spatial conformation of nucleic acid drugs to promote the delivery of the molecule to target RNA, mitigate the inflammatory response, and improve the drug’s therapeutic index. The resultant drug candidates have shown a significant increase in potency compared to gapmer antisense and traditional siRNA formats. Partners can apply this format to existing antisense sequences or partner to discover new AntiClastic oligonucleotides against their intended target.
Learn more at www.alloytx.com/genetic-medicines/.
About Alloy Therapeutics
Alloy Therapeutics is a biotechnology ecosystem company empowering the global scientific community to make better medicines together. Through a community of partners across academia, biotech, and the largest biopharma, Alloy democratizes access to pre-competitive tools, technologies, services, and company creation capabilities that are foundational for discovering and developing therapeutic biologics across six modalities: antibodies, TCRs, genetic medicines, peptides, cell therapies, and drug delivery. Partners may access all current and future technologies through a discovery service relationship or for a flat fee through Alloy’s Innovation Subscriptions offering. As a reflection of Alloy’s relentless commitment to the scientific community, Alloy reinvests 100% of its revenue in innovation and access to innovation.
Join the Alloy Therapeutics community by visiting www.alloytx.com and following Alloy on LinkedIn.
Contacts
Alloy Therapeutics Media Contact:
Hal Mackins
hal@torchcomllc.com
