Case Study - Incubation Partnerships
Polytherics and The London BioScience Innovation Centre
Background
PolyTherics is a biotechnology company that applies precision chemistry to develop protein and peptide-based drugs. These types of drugs are administrated to patients by injection and are generally cleared from the body very quickly. This rapid clearance can reduce the efficacy of the drug and increase the frequency that injections have to be administrated to the patient. PolyTherics' precision chemistry technologies can extend the duration of action of protein and peptide-based drugs and this can improve their efficacy. Patients also require fewer injections, reducing the cost of treatment and improving compliance with treatment.
PolyTherics was formed in 2002 and in 2005 the Company began to focus its efforts on extending the half-life of protein and peptide-based drugs. In 2006 PolyTherics moved to The London BioScience Innovation Centre (LBIC) with three employees. The Company now employees almost 30 people, the majority of whom are scientists working in the laboratories provided at LBIC. LBIC has been able to provide additional laboratory and office facilities for PolyTherics as the Company has grown.
Technologies
The Company has three proprietary precision chemistry technologies for attaching one or more molecules of the polymer poly (ethylene glycol) (PEG) to any therapeutic peptide or protein to slow its elimination from the body, two of these technologies have been developed since the Company moved into LBIC. PEGylation is an established method for improving medicines and nine PEGylated products are already approved for use in either the US and/or EU. PolyTherics' methods of PEGylation add PEG to a specific site on proteins and peptides producing a more homogeneous product than traditional PEGylation technologies.
TheraPEG™ - PEGylation across one or more disulfide bonds
HiPEG™ - PEGylation at a histidine tag
CyPEG™ - PEGylation at the thiol group of free cysteine
For more information see www.polytherics.co.uk