MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Nov. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Avidia, Inc. announced today the publication of a scientific paper in the prestigious journal Nature Biotechnology. The paper, entitled, “Multivalent Avimer(TM) Proteins Evolved by Exon Shuffling of a Family of Human Domains,” was published in the on-line version of Nature Biotechnology. The print version will be published in December 2005. The article details a novel class of binding proteins, called avimers(TM), designed to overcome the well-known limitations of antibodies and other immunoglobulin-based therapeutic proteins.
“This peer-reviewed publication provides validation from the scientific community of our avimer(TM) technology,” said Peter Van Vlasselaer, Avidia’s chief executive officer. “We have made substantial progress in the development of our technology and have met recently with the FDA to discuss our pre-clinical, clinical and manufacturing approach to our first IND, which is planned for the second quarter of 2006.”
About Avimers(TM)
Avimers are a new class of small, assembled, therapeutic proteins. They can contain multiple binding domains, each with the potential to bind to a separate target; and, therefore, may bind simultaneously to one or multiple protein targets. Avimers are structurally unrelated to antibodies; but, as has been observed in preclinical studies, they perform the same functions of inhibiting or inducing a specific biologic function.
About Avidia
Avidia, a privately held biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Mountain View, California, is focused on the discovery and development of a novel, proprietary class of small therapeutic proteins. Avidia hopes to leverage its expertise in the design and manufacture of these proteins to develop products that are directed against validated therapeutic targets with clear mechanisms of action in large clinical indications with unmet need. For more information, visit http://www.avidia.com/.
This press release can be found on Avidia’s website at http://www.avidia.com in the box marked “News.”
Avidia, Inc.
CONTACT: Media, Tom Gibson, +1-216-881-9376, or Investors, Peter VanVlasselaer, +1-408-391-4251, both of Avidia, Inc.
Web site: http://www.avidia.com//
