Pharma

Synthetic antibody biotech secures $750K for diagnostics, therapeutics

A biotech startup with technology it thinks could help create a new class of drugs […]

A biotech startup with technology it thinks could help create a new class of drugs to treat cancer and infectious diseases has landed a $750,000 seed round for its synthetic antibody technology.

Synbody Biotechnology Inc. is working with synthetic antibodies made of peptides — called synbodies — that are engineered in vitro to function with the high specificity of antibodies, but without the drawbacks of their traditionally large size and unwanted immune stimulation that can cause toxicity.

The synthetic antibodies are screened against a library of 9,000 to 10,000 proteins to see which synbodies bind to which proteins.

Developed in Stephen Johnston’s lab at Arizona State University, the technology could lead to a new class of therapeutics for diseases that could be produced quickly and at a low cost, the company says.

Early leads have been identified for treatment of cancer, diabetes and emerging infective diseases, along with diagnostic tools to identify patients that could benefit from such therapeutics.

Synbody has just raised a $750,000 seed round from Connecticut Innovations.  CEO Paul Hallenbeck  told Mass High Tech that the company will be working this year on developing a proof of concept for cancer and infectious diseases.

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