AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS – May 16th, 2017 – Synaffix BV, a biotechnology company exclusively focused on the development of industry-leading antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) technology platforms, today announced that a key patent covering its HydraSpace™ spacer technology has been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (US 9,636,421 B2).
With the granting of this patent, Synaffix has secured end-to-end patent protection of its ADC technology platform, embodied by a growing portfolio of granted patents that now cover all three core areas of Synaffix ADC technology including GlycoConnect™, HydraSpace™ and metal-free click chemistry.
HydraSpace™ is a compact and highly polar spacer, which has consistently demonstrated the ability to significantly enhance ADC stability (reduced aggregation) and expand the therapeutic index of an ADC, beyond what is achieved by GlycoConnect™ alone. HydraSpace™ was originally designed to enable efficient attachment of the most challenging hydrophobic payloads, such as pyrrolobenzodiazepines (PBDs), to an antibody. Additionally, the branching capability of HydraSpace™ enables the dual-warhead ADC format, which is characterized by the attachment of two distinct payload types to the same antibody. This approach provides the possibility to deliver two different mechanisms of action to the same cell, which may represent a key strategy in the eradication of cancer stem cells and the treatment of multi-drug resistant forms of cancer.
“HydraSpace™ has confirmed our expectations as it has demonstrated its potential across numerous comparative studies, including against other mainstream site-specific conjugation technologies. As such, it represents a key differentiator for ADC product candidates being developed by our collaborators” said Peter van de Sande, CEO of Synaffix who added, “with the HydraSpace™ patent now granted, we have secured patent protection through at least 2035 for products developed using our technology.”
About GlycoConnect™ and HydraSpace™ Platforms
The Synaffix technology platforms include GlycoConnect™, the site-specific and stable antibody conjugation technology that involves proprietary enzymes and metal-free click conjugation reagents, and HydraSpace™, the ADC-enhancing spacer technology. GlycoConnect™ was shown to be capable of significantly enhancing the therapeutic index of an ADC on its own. The highly polar properties of HydraSpace™ improve the solubility and stability of the payload and the resulting ADC product, thus enhancing further the therapeutic index of the ADC. Both technologies have demonstrated compatibility with all ADC payload classes and all IgG isotypes and can be applied directly to an existing antibody without any engineering.
About Synaffix BV
Synaffix BV is a Netherlands-based biotechnology company exclusively focused on the continued advancement of best-in-class ADC technology platforms.
As a leading innovator in the field of ADCs offering absolute versatility and state-of-the-art solutions, our vision is to become the preferred partner in the development of these complex biological therapeutics and realize our ambition – connect to cure™.
Synaffix is backed by a top tier, life science-focused investor syndicate including Aravis, BioGeneration Ventures, BOM Capital and Merck Ventures, the strategic corporate venture capital fund of Merck.
