Patent provides broad protection for Avilar’s proprietary ASGPR-mediated extracellular protein degraders with therapeutic applications in a wide range of human diseases
WALTHAM, Mass., November 27, 2023 – Avilar Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company focused on extracellular protein degradation, today announced that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued U.S. Patent 11,819,551 on November 21, 2023. The issued patent provides broad protection for Avilar’s first wave of extracellular proteins degraders called ATACs (ASGPR Targeting Chimeras) with therapeutic applications in a wide range of human diseases. ATACs are bi-functional molecules that leverage Avilar’s advanced chemistry for creating high-affinity ligands to the asialoglycoprotein receptor (ASGPR) and are designed to shuttle pathogenic extracellular proteins from circulation into the endolysosome where the unwanted proteins are degraded.
“We are excited to receive this U.S. patent as one of the cornerstones in our growing intellectual property estate,” commented Daniel Grau, CEO of Avilar. “This patent underscores the creativity and expertise of Avilar scientists, who conceived and developed new and improved ASGPR ligand chemistry. The resulting novel ligands provide the backbone for Avilar’s ATAC extracellular degraders and offer advantages versus previous approaches, including our ability to achieve high levels of protein degradation using lower molecular weight monovalent compounds.”
Avilar has successfully demonstrated in vivo proof-of-concept for ATACs as potent degraders of extracellular proteins. At previous scientific conferences, Avilar presented data for ATACs that bind to and degrade immunoglobulin G (IgG). In a repeat dose study in non-human primates conducted by Avilar, a novel monovalent ATAC formulated in a simple subcutaneous injection demonstrated 85% reduction in IgG. IgG is the second most abundant protein in the human body and reduction of pathogenic IgG autoantibodies is a clinically validated strategy for treating multiple debilitating autoimmune diseases.
About Avilar Therapeutics
Avilar Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company pioneering the discovery and development of extracellular protein degraders, a new frontier in targeted protein degradation. Avilar develops ATACs (ASGPR Targeting Chimeras), a new class of protein degraders that shuttle disease-causing proteins from circulation to the endolysosome where the unwanted proteins are degraded. Avilar has built a proprietary discovery platform that includes novel, high-affinity, small molecule ASGPR (asialoglycoprotein receptor) ligands and advanced modeling of the biophysics, pharmacokinetics, and pharmacodynamics of ATAC mediated endocytosis and degradation. This platform enables the modular design and synthesis of ATACs extendable across the extracellular proteome to a wide range of proteins involved in the pathogenesis of human diseases. Avilar is leveraging its ATAC platform to create a broad and diverse pipeline of first-in-class extracellular protein degraders. Avilar is based in Waltham, MA. For more information, please visit www.avilar-tx.com and follow us on LinkedIn.