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Technology
Advancing Proteoglycans as a New Class
of Therapeutics
Agenta's
technology platform was patented November, 2006, with
enormous potential for discovery of new drugs for bone healing.
This
technology allows us to create hundreds of thousands of potentially
useful modifications to what scientists have found to be critical
molecules for growth and healing. The critical molecule, and the
core
of the platform technology, is the proteoglycan (proteo-glycan).
Proteoglycans consist of two parts; the protein core, and long,
sophisticated, glycan chains; hence the name proteoglycan.
This class of biological molecules can promote healing through a
variety of known mechanisms; as required carriers and activators for
important growth factors in healing; providing structure; and
increasing blood supply. Accordingly, these proteoglycan
therapeutics
can be applied to bone in grafts where they enhance the activity of
additional growth factors.
Proteoglycans and their
associated carbohydrate chains (polymers) are normal components of most
body organs including the skin, bone, cartilage, blood vessels, and
brain. Proteoglycans and their associated polymers, also called
GAG chains, come in a variety of forms and can be involved with growth
factor delivery, tissue regeneration and healing, structural support in
cartilage and skin and barrier formation in membranes surrounding blood
vessels. Different therapeutic proteoglycans, hence different
combinations of carbohydrate polymers, can be generated in vivo (and ex
vivo) by delivering different therapeutic proteoglycan DNA sequences.
Agenta’s Customized
Therapeutic Proteoglycan Delivery (CTPD) platform provides a novel
mechanism of action where novel targeted proteoglycans are generated by
preparing customized DNA that is applied to tissues or sites in the
body where the therapeutic is needed. Once delivered, the
targeted cells of the body make the proteoglycan, then they add the GAG
chains that we have designed into the DNA sequence. The GAG
chains are then modified in a customized manner in situ by the targeted
cells depending upon the tissue and needs of the application site.
Our ability to control
and manipulate proteoglycan DNA sequences in a strategic and rational
manner allows the production of novel proteoglycans with diverse
therapeutic functions and thereby provides Agenta with a constant
source of pipeline renewal opportunities.
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