Sea Lane Biotechnologies Unveils A Potential New Class Of Biotherapeutics

Main Category: Pharma Industry / Biotech Industry
Also Included In: Biology / Biochemistry
Article Date: 30 Jul 2008 - 1:00 PDT

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Sea Lane Biotechnologies, LLC (Sea Lane) announced the first demonstration of a new class of biotherapeutic molecules called Surrobodies™ with the potential to impart transformative new abilities and benefits into next generation biologic treatments.

Surrobodies build upon the increasing success of biotherapeutic antibodies whose sales in the US total more than $16 billion annually and are growing rapidly.

"Therapeutic antibodies are currently used to treat several types of diseases, but they have natural architectural limitations," said Richard Lerner, MD, president of the Scripps Research Institute. "Surrobodies circumvent those limitations and thus have the potential to provide biotherapeutics with absolutely unique capabilities."

The study is being published in this week's Early Edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Hiding in Plain Sight

Sea Lane has developed a method to utilize key elements from naturally occurring trimeric preB cells, a predecessor to mature B cells, as the backbone of Surrobodies. "We have captured a structure that fleetingly appears in the body as the basis for our new biotherapeutic platform," said Lawrence Horowitz, CEO of Sea Lane. "Surrobodies not only offer potential improvement over traditional antibody therapies but also open new doors for combination therapies with peptides or other molecules."

Sea Lane directly constructs designer Surrobodies, as well as large collections, or libraries, of multi-potential Surrobodies to select for optimal efficacy against specific pathologies.

Natural Features Enhance Engineering Effectiveness

Li Xu, Principal Scientist at Sea Lane, said, "Surrobodies have naturally self-contained binding sites that can be independently or synergistically utilized to more effectively address a broader scope of diseases. With multiple, distinct binding sites, Surrobodies can be directed against several targets at once, or a single target with multiple points of contact which can greatly increase efficacy."

"Creating Surrobodies is a completely novel approach to address poorly met and currently impossible therapeutic treatments," said Ramesh Bhatt, Vice President of Research of Sea Lane. "The goal of using Surrobodies is to create medicines with novel designer functions and improved efficacy that can be readily developed and delivered to the clinic for the benefit of patients who suffer from profound diseases."

Sea Lane currently has several molecules in various stages of discovery and preclinical testing. "Sea Lane Biotechnologies currently has an expanding portfolio of patents pending for Surrobodies that will provide the Company with broad protection for this revolutionary and multipotent biotherapeutic scaffold," said Michael Horowitz, General Counsel for Sea Lane.

The concept of Surrobodies was developed exclusively through the innovative efforts of scientists at Sea Lane Biotechnologies.

For questions or comments, please contact Sea Lane Biotechnologies, LLC public relations at 650-325-7399 or Keith McKeown, The Scripps Research Institute, at 858-784-8134.

About Sea Lane Biotechnologies, LLC

Sea Lane Biotechnologies, LLC is a biotherapeutic technology company focused on innovating and leading biotherapeutic discovery with transformative technologies and platforms that are necessary to meet contemporary pharmaceutical biologic portfolio requirements. Founded in 2005 in Menlo Park, CA, the company currently has proprietary product candidates in pre-clinical testing. Surrobodies™ have the potential for novel function and improved efficacy in different diseases, unlike currently available immunopharmaceuticals.

About The Scripps Research Institute

The Scripps Research Institute is one of the world's largest independent, non-profit biomedical research organizations, at the forefront of basic biomedical science that seeks to comprehend the most fundamental processes of life. Scripps Research is internationally recognized for its discoveries in immunology, molecular and cellular biology, chemistry, neurosciences, autoimmune, cardiovascular, and infectious diseases, and synthetic vaccine development. Established in its current configuration in 1961, it employs approximately 3,000 scientists, postdoctoral fellows, scientific and other technicians, doctoral degree graduate students, and administrative and technical support personnel. Scripps Research is headquartered in La Jolla, California. It also includes Scripps Florida, whose researchers focus on basic biomedical science, drug discovery, and technology development. Currently operating from temporary facilities in Jupiter, Scripps Florida will move to its permanent campus by 2009.

Scripps Research Institute

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