Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Protein-based Glycanantagonists from ProtAffin
Filed under: Genetics
ProtAffin Biotechnologie AG, a Graz, Austria biotech, is reporting that Austrian agency Forschungs - Förderungs - Gesellschaft (FFG) is giving financial support for the pre-clinical development of the company's anti-inflammatory product PA401. The company believes that it has expertise in developing proteins that can regulate inflammatory and other disease processes by binding to specific carbohydrate structures, namely the glycosaminoglycans (GAGs). According to ProtAffin, PA401 "binds with high affinity to disease associated GAG structures found on the inflamed endothelium. The product forms a long-lasting inert protein layer on the endothelium which blocks neutrophil infiltration to the site of inflammation. PA401 is the first of a novel class of biologicals: protein-based glycanantagonist." PA401 is apparently showing a promising activity profile in models of rheumatoid arthritis, according to the product webpage.
To develop its range of targeted biological molecules for treatment of inflammatory diseases, the company developed the proprietary CellJammer® discovery technology, overview of which can be seen below.
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