Alloy Therapeutics Introduces Exclusive Anticlastic™ Antisense Oligonucleotide Platform for the Creation of Powerful Genetic Medications
Thursday, June 29, 2023
Alloy Therapeutics has recently unveiled its innovative AntiClastic™ Antisense Oligonucleotide (AntiClastic ASO) platform, which enhances the properties of antisense therapeutics by employing optimally designed spatial conformation nucleic acids. The company has obtained an exclusive license for the underlying Intellectual Property (IP) from Arnay Sciences LLC, owned by Sudhir Agrawal.
Antisense therapeutics have shown potential in targeting previously undruggable intracellular nucleic acid targets. However, their development has been hindered by challenges related to therapeutic efficacy and delivery. Alloy's AntiClastic ASO platform addresses these limitations by combining improvements in the primary sequence of antisense drugs with a novel spatial conformation of nucleic acids. This results in AntiClastic ASO candidates with enhanced potency, improved delivery to target RNA molecules, reduced interactions with unintended RNA targets, and minimized inflammatory responses. The platform has broad applications for treating diseases involving genes expressed in the central nervous system (CNS), liver, muscles, ocular tissues, and more.
Sudhir Agrawal expressed enthusiasm for the potential of the AntiClastic format to revolutionize antisense therapeutic development. Alloy's approach of making pre-competitive discovery technologies widely accessible to drug developers aligns with Agrawal's vision of reaching a broader patient population, rather than restricting access to a limited set of therapeutic programs.
Alloy offers drug developers access to the AntiClastic ASO format through collaboration on desired targets or by converting existing antisense sequences into AntiClastic molecules. Collaborative campaigns receive support from Alloy in terms of discovery assistance, preclinical data, and flexible research and partnership terms based on a shared success model.
With the launch of the AntiClastic ASO platform, Alloy expands its focus to genetic medicines, marking its third biologic modality. The company initially made its ATX-Gx™ transgenic humanized mice platform for antibody discovery widely available to the scientific community. This platform has garnered more than 150 partners and served as the foundation for Alloy's strategy of providing pre-competitive technologies to drug developers worldwide. Alloy later introduced Keyway™ TCR Discovery, aiming to democratize technologies and expertise for developing soluble T-cell receptor (TCR) therapeutics and TCR mimics targeting intracellular molecules. The genetic medicines group at Alloy is led by Vinod Vathipadiekal, PhD, who brings extensive experience in RNA and nucleic acid therapeutics from his research leadership roles in biotech and pharmaceutical companies. Alloy has generated promising data on multiple antisense drug candidates using the AntiClastic technology, leading to discovery collaborations with partners.
Piotr Bobrowicz, PhD, President of Alloy, commended the company's progress in executing its ambitious roadmap for the AntiClastic platform and establishing collaborative and innovative relationships with inventors like Sudhir Agrawal. Alloy aims to provide advanced and novel discovery capabilities across multiple modalities to the global scientific community, empowering the development of the most effective drugs regardless of format.
In conjunction with the launch of the AntiClastic ASO platform, Alloy has introduced its genetic medicines Scientific Advisory Board (SAB). This board comprises experts in immunology, RNA- and nucleic acid-based therapeutics, rare diseases, and bioinformatics who will guide further development of the platform. The SAB members include Douglas Golenbock, MD, a renowned researcher in innate immunity and Toll-like receptor biology; Frank Slack, PhD, an expert in small RNA gene regulation; Malcolm MacCoss, PhD, an expert in novel chemistries for nucleic acid-based therapeutic approaches; and Matt Might, PhD, an expert in precision medicine and developing therapies for rare diseases.
Errik Anderson, CEO and Founder of Alloy Therapeutics, expressed gratitude for the support and collaboration from leading minds and innovators in genetic and precision medicine, as well as disease areas that can benefit from the AntiClastic platform. Alloy's model of co-creating pre-competitive technologies and making them widely available aims to ensure that more patients can benefit from potent antisense therapeutics for previously challenging conditions.
