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.

WALTHAM, Mass., October 30, 2023 – Avilar Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company focused on extracellular protein degradation, today announced it will present new preclinical data from its ATAC (ASGPR Targeting Chimera) degrader platform at the sixth annual Targeted Protein Degradation Summit being held in Boston on October 30 – November 2, 2023.

ATACs are bifunctional molecules comprising one of Avilar’s novel ligands to the asialoglycoprotein receptor (ASGPR) conjugated to another ligand that binds to a disease-causing extracellular protein. ATACs work by shuttling pathogenic proteins from circulation into the endolysosome where the unwanted proteins are degraded.

The presentation will showcase new ATAC mechanism of action studies that confirm Avilar’s ASGPR ligands retain key pH- and calcium-dependent binding properties similar to and consistent with the known behavior of well-characterized ASGPR ligands such as GalNAc. These properties enable normal ASGPR release and recycling after ATAC internalization within the early endosome, and further elucidate the ATAC mechanism to harness the natural ASGPR pathway for degradation of extracellular protein targets.

New in vivo data will also be presented that robustly characterize the relationship between ATAC pharmacokinetics, binding properties of the ATAC ligands to ASGPR and target protein IgG, and ASGPR-mediated degradation.

Details of the presentation are as follows:

Title: Heterobifunctional Molecules That Induce Targeted Degradation of Extracellular Proteins Through the Cell-Surface Asialoglycoprotein Receptor
Session: Expanding the Scope of TPD by Leveraging the Ability to Degrade Extracellularly
Presenter: Jason Wiles, PhD, Vice President, Discovery and Preclinical Sciences
Date and Time: Thursday, November 2, 11 a.m. ET

The slides will be available on the Avilar website following the presentation.

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 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.

Media Contact:
Kathryn Morris
The Yates Network
914-204-6412
kathryn@theyatesnetwork.com

WALTHAM, Mass., September 19, 2023 – Avilar Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company focused on extracellular protein degradation, today announced that its company leaders will participate in two upcoming industry conferences, highlighting the company’s proprietary protein degradation platform capabilities and associated opportunities to target historically intractable pathogenic proteins. Avilar will present on the degradation of extracellular proteins using ASGPR targeting chimeras (ATACs) at Promega’s Targeted Protein Degradation Symposium taking place in Madison, Wisconsin on September 20 – 21, 2023. Avilar will also participate in a panel discussion on partnerships and investment at the Next-Generation Undruggable Summit being held in Boston, Massachusetts on October 3, 2023.

Details of the presentation and panel session are as follows:

Promega Targeted Protein Degradation Symposium
Presentation Title: Rapid and Robust Degradation o
Extracellular Proteins with ASGPR Targeting Chimeras (ATACs)
Presenter: Lisa Molz, VP Research, Avilar Therapeutics
Date and Time: Wednesday, September 20, 9:15 a.m. ET

Next-Generation Undruggable Summit
Panel Session Title: 2023: The Year of
artnership and Investment Resurgence
Panelist: Adam Muzikant, Chief Business Officer, Avilar Therapeutics
Date and Time: Tuesday, October 3, 4:15 p.m. ET

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 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 Twitter @Avilar_Tx and on LinkedIn.

Media Contact:
Kathryn Morris
The Yates Network
914-204-6412
kathryn@theyatesnetwork.com

WALTHAM, Mass., August 29, 2023 – Avilar Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company focused on extracellular protein degradation, today announced that Adam Muzikant, Ph.D., the company’s Chief Business Officer, will present at the upcoming Wells Fargo Healthcare Conference in Boston at 4:30 pm ET on Wednesday, September 6, 2023.

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 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 Twitter @Avilar_Tx and on LinkedIn.

Media Contact:
Kathryn Morris
The Yates Network
914-204-6412
kathryn@theyatesnetwork.com

New investors Sanofi Ventures, Medical Excellence Capital, and Astellas Venture Management join syndicate with founder RA Capital Management

Funding supports advancing multiple first-in-class degrader pipeline programs for the treatment of autoimmune, neurological, and other diseases driven by pathogenic extracellular proteins

WALTHAM, Mass., February 16, 2023 – Avilar Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company focused on extracellular protein degradation, today announced it has raised additional funding with an expanded syndicate of new investors to support advancing a pipeline of first-in-class extracellular protein degraders. The new financing is an upsize to $75 million of the seed round that had initial funding from Avilar’s founding investor, RA Capital Management, and now includes participation by new investors Sanofi Ventures, Medical Excellence Capital (MEC), and Astellas Venture Management (AVM).

“Avilar is pioneering the next frontier in protein degradation and we are excited that our significant progress over the past year in discovering and advancing extracellular protein degraders has attracted this group of leading investors,” said Daniel Grau, CEO and President of Avilar Therapeutics. “This financing accelerates progression of our expanding pipeline and unlocks new applications of our unique and proprietary discovery engine, positioning the company well for our next stage of growth.”

Proceeds from the financing will be used to advance multiple pipeline programs targeting extracellular proteins that are known to be involved in the pathogenesis of autoimmune, neurological, and other diseases yet remain poorly addressed by currently available approaches. In addition, the funding will be used to grow the company and expand the Avilar platform of proprietary technologies, all custom-built and tailored to designing and building extracellular protein degraders.

Concurrent with this financing, Paulina Hill, PhD, Partner at Sanofi Ventures, will join Avilar’s board of directors. Brian Halak, PhD, from MEC will join as board observer and each of Sanofi Ventures and AVM will also have a board observer seat.

“We are very pleased to welcome this seasoned group of investors to the Avilar board of directors,” said Milind Deshpande, PhD, RA Ventures Venture Partner, Avilar Co-Founder, and Chairman of the Avilar Board of Directors. “Their expertise in company building, capital formation, and drug development will be a tremendous resource to Avilar as the innovation leader in the new field of extracellular protein degradation.”

Avilar is building a novel class of protein degraders that target disease-causing extracellular proteins, thereby extending the reach of protein degradation beyond first generation degraders that target intracellular proteins. The company is focused on the discovery and development of ATACs, or ASGPR Targeting Chimeras, which harness a natural process through which endogenous proteins are internalized into hepatocytes via the asialoglycoprotein receptor (ASGPR) and degraded in the endolysosome.

“We founded Avilar with the vision to build an industry leader in extracellular degradation and we are thrilled with the progress the Avilar team has made delivering on this vision,” said Josh Resnick, MD, MBA, Managing Director at RA Capital and co-lead of RA Capital’s early stage company creation efforts. “Avilar’s platform and scientific team were originally incubated at RAVen, the RA Capital incubator, and exemplify RA Capital’s world class and expanding capabilities in new company formation.”

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 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 Twitter @Avilar_Tx and on LinkedIn.

About RA Capital Management

RA Capital Management is a multi-stage investment manager dedicated to evidence-based investing in public and private healthcare and life science companies that are developing drugs, medical devices, and diagnostics. The flexibility of its strategy allows RA Capital to provide seed funding to startups and to lead private, IPO, and follow-on financings for its portfolio companies, allowing management teams to drive value creation from inception through commercialization. For more information, please visit www.racap.com.

About Sanofi Ventures

Sanofi Ventures is the corporate venture capital arm of Sanofi. Sanofi Ventures invests in early-stage biotech and digital health companies with innovative ideas and transformative new products and technologies of strategic interest to Sanofi. Among these areas are oncology, immunology, rare diseases, vaccines, potential cures in other core areas of Sanofi’s business footprint, and digital health solutions. Find out more: www.sanofiventures.com.

About Medical Excellence Capital

Medical Excellence Capital (MEC) is an early-stage life sciences venture fund that uniquely combines a proprietary global network of leading physician scientists with a team of experienced investment professionals, company builders, and operators. For more information, visit www.medexcelcap.com.

About Astellas Venture Management

Astellas Venture Management (AVM) is the wholly-owned venture capital organization within Astellas, dedicated to supporting pre-clinical, cutting-edge science that can bring VALUE to patients. For over 15 years, AVM has provided equity investments to private, early-stage companies developing therapeutic programs and platform technologies, helping them to advance their innovations faster. AVM is a strategic investor, making investments in science that will enhance the current Astellas R&D pipeline or that could catalyze new directions in discovery research. For more information, visit www.astellasventure.com.

Media Contact:
Kathryn Morris
The Yates Network
914-204-6412
kathryn@theyatesnetwork.com

WALTHAM, Mass., November 7, 2022 – Avilar Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company focused on extracellular protein degradation, today presented new preclinical proof-of-concept data demonstrating the degradation of extracellular proteins using its asialoglycoprotein receptor (ASGPR) targeting chimera (ATAC) platform at the Keystone Symposium on Targeted Protein Degradation being held in Vancouver, British Columbia. The company presented in vivo proof-of-concept data in non-human primates showing robust and dose-dependent degradation of a circulating extracellular protein by a monovalent ATAC degrader.

“We are excited to present new data in non-human primates demonstrating strong in vivo proof of concept for ATAC-mediated extracellular protein degradation,” said Effie Tozzo, CSO of Avilar Therapeutics. “These compelling data further validate the potential of our ATAC platform and have also directly informed the design and development of our pipeline ATACs targeting serious diseases.”

Highlights of the results presented at the Keystone Symposium include:

  • Avilar’s proprietary small molecule high-affinity ASGPR ligands enabled the synthesis of novel bivalent and monovalent ATAC degraders of Immunoglobulin G (IgG), an abundant and long half-life extracellular protein.
  • In non-human primate repeat-dose studies, both monovalent and bivalent ATACs showed dose-dependent plasma exposure and robust dose-dependent degradation (>80%) of IgG when dosed intravenously.
  • A monovalent ATAC degrader dosed subcutaneously in a non-human primate repeat-dose study demonstrated dose-dependent plasma exposure and equally robust IgG degradation activity as monovalent or bivalent ATACs dosed intravenously.
  • Avilar’s proprietary extracellular degradation modeling simulation technology, customized for ASGPR-mediated uptake and degradation, predicted the dose, dosing regimen, and PK/PD profile of ATACs in vivo.

The poster is available on the Avilar website.

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 ATAC platform that includes novel, high-affinity, small molecule ASGPR ligands and advanced modeling of the biophysics, pharmacokinetics, and pharmacodynamics of ATAC mediated endocytosis and degradation. The ATAC 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 the ATAC platform to create a broad and diverse pipeline of first-in-class extracellular protein degraders. Avilar was founded and financed by RA Capital Management and based in Waltham, MA. For more information, please visit www.avilar-tx.com and follow us on Twitter @Avilar_Tx and on LinkedIn.

Media Contact:
Kathryn Morris
The Yates Network
914-204-6412
kathryn@theyatesnetwork.com

WALTHAM, Mass., November 1, 2022 – Avilar Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company focused on extracellular protein degradation, today announced it will present preclinical data demonstrating the degradation of extracellular proteins using its asialoglycoprotein receptor (ASGPR) targeting chimeras (ATAC) platform at the Keystone Symposium on Targeted Protein Degradation being held in Vancouver, British Columbia, November 6-8, 2022.

The presentation will include pharmacokinetic (PK) and pharmacodynamic (PD) data from single and repeat-dose studies in non-human primates with monovalent ATAC degraders dosed subcutaneously and intravenously that target immunoglobulin G (IgG), an abundant extracellular protein.

Details of the presentation are as follows:

Title: ASGPR-Targeting Chimeras (ATACs): In Vitro and In Vivo Demonstration of the Degradation of Extracellular Proteins
Poster Number: 1011
Presenting Author: Alison Davis, PhD, Director of Biology
Poster Session Date and Time: Monday November 7, 2022, 7:30-10:00pm PT

The poster will be available on the Avilar website on Monday, November 7.

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 ATAC platform that includes novel, high-affinity, small molecule ASGPR ligands and advanced modeling of the biophysics, pharmacokinetics, and pharmacodynamics of ATAC mediated endocytosis and degradation. The ATAC 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 the ATAC platform to create a broad and diverse pipeline of first-in-class extracellular protein degraders. Avilar was founded and financed by RA Capital Management and based in Waltham, MA. For more information, please visit www.avilar-tx.com and follow us on Twitter @Avilar_Tx and on LinkedIn.

Media Contact:
Kathryn Morris
The Yates Network
914-204-6412

kathryn@theyatesnetwork.com

WALTHAM, Mass., October 18, 2022 – Avilar Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company focused on extracellular protein degradation, today announced that it will present new in vivo proof-of-concept data from its ATAC (ASGPR Targeting Chimera) degrader platform at two upcoming drug discovery conferences. Kevin Lumb, DPhil, VP Biology, will present at the Discovery on Target Conference being held October 17-20, 2022. Effie Tozzo, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer, will present at the 5th Annual Targeted Protein Degradation Summit being held October 25-28, 2022.

“ATACs offer a promising new approach to protein degradation with the potential to expand the reach of this modality to pathogenic targets outside the cell,” commented Dr. Tozzo. “We are excited to share results from our translational PK/PD studies successfully demonstrating in vivo proof-of-concept for ATAC degraders.”

Data highlights include:

  • In vivo pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic data from rodent studies with ATACs targeting Immunoglobulin G (IgG), an abundant extracellular protein
  • In vivo data showing target protein endocytosis via ASGPR in rat hepatocytes and endolysosomal localization and degradation
  • Rapid and robust in vivo protein degradation using ATACs that employ Avilar’s proprietary high-affinity, small molecule ASGPR ligands in a monovalent format
  • In vitro and in vivo data demonstrating the potential for ATACs to selectively degrade specific protein subclasses

Conference presentation details are as follows:

Title: Targeted Degradation of Extracellular Proteins with ATACs (ASGPR-Targeting Chimeras)
Session: Emerging Degrader Modalities
Presenter: Kevin Lumb, DPhil, Vice President, Biology, Avilar Therapeutics
Date and Time: Wednesday, October 19, 8 a.m. ET

Title: Extracellular Protein Targeted Degradation with Novel ATACs (ASGPR Targeting Chimeras)
Session: Spotlighting Emerging Modalities Targeting Extracellular Proteins and Cell Therapy
Presenter: Effie Tozzo, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer, Avilar Therapeutics
Date and Time: Friday, October 28, 11 a.m. ET

The presentations will be available on the Avilar website following the respective conferences.

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 ATAC platform that includes novel, high-affinity, small molecule ASGPR ligands and advanced modeling of the biophysics, pharmacokinetics, and pharmacodynamics of ATAC mediated endocytosis and degradation. The ATAC 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 the ATAC platform to create a broad and diverse pipeline of first-in-class extracellular protein degraders. Avilar was founded and financed by RA Capital Management and is based in Waltham, MA. For more information, please visit www.avilar-tx.com and follow us on Twitter @Avilar_Tx and on LinkedIn.

Media Contact:
Kathryn Morris
The Yates Network
914-204-6412
kathryn@theyatesnetwork.com

WALTHAM, Mass., June 15, 2022 – Avilar Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company focused on extracellular protein degradation, today announced the appointment of Adam Muzikant, PhD, as Chief Business Officer. Dr. Muzikant brings 18 years of business development experience creating and executing value-creating deals, from platform collaborations to commercial-stage product licenses and M&A, across a range of therapeutic areas and technologies at both private and public biopharmaceutical companies. In his role at Avilar, Dr. Muzikant will be responsible for corporate and business development as well as various business operations functions.

“We are excited to welcome Adam to the Avilar leadership team during this time of significant growth of our company,” said Daniel Grau, CEO and President of Avilar Therapeutics. “He brings exceptional expertise in business development and will play a central role in defining and executing our business, partnering, and financing strategy. Adam’s strong track record of success in establishing diverse partnerships is an ideal fit for Avilar as we build a world-class company focused on extracellular protein degradation.”

“I am thrilled to join the impressive team at Avilar and to help realize the full potential of the company’s innovative ATAC (ASGPR Targeting Chimeras) protein degradation platform and the broad applications of this approach to create new impactful degrader medicines in many therapeutic areas,” said Dr. Muzikant. “I look forward to working in close collaboration with my new colleagues as we strive to make a meaningful difference in the lives of patients suffering from serious diseases.”

Dr. Muzikant joins Avilar after serving as Chief Business Officer of Flexion Therapeutics (NASDAQ: FLXN), where he was instrumental in the sale of the company to Pacira BioSciences for up to $1B in enterprise value. While at Flexion, he was a member of the executive committee and drove construction of a pipeline of novel drug candidates through asset acquisitions, executed a China development and commercialization deal for ZILRETTA®, and orchestrated the R&D efforts of Flexion’s Innovation Lab. Before joining Flexion, Dr. Muzikant was VP Business Development at Synta Pharmaceuticals, where he led the strategic transaction process culminating in a merger with Madrigal Pharmaceuticals. Prior to Synta, he held business development leadership positions at AMAG Pharmaceuticals, Inotek Pharmaceuticals, EPIX Pharmaceuticals, and Predix Pharmaceuticals, and also performed transaction/strategic advisory work at Locust Walk for biotech and pharmaceutical companies. Dr. Muzikant holds a BS in Engineering from the University of California, San Diego and a PhD in Biomedical Engineering from Duke University.

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 ATAC platform that includes novel, high-affinity, small molecule ASGPR ligands and advanced modeling of the biophysics, pharmacokinetics, and pharmacodynamics of ATAC mediated endocytosis and degradation. The ATAC 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 the ATAC platform to create a broad and diverse pipeline of first-in-class extracellular protein degraders. Avilar was founded and financed by RA Capital Management and based in Waltham, MA. For more information, please visit www.avilar-tx.com and follow us on Twitter @Avilar_Tx and on LinkedIn.

Media Contact:
Kathryn Morris
The Yates Network
914-204-6412
kathryn@theyatesnetwork.com

WALTHAM, Mass., May 16, 2022 – Avilar Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company focused on extracellular protein degradation, today announced the formation of its Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) comprised of an esteemed group of leading scientists with expertise in protein degradation, chemistry, genetics, and drug discovery. The Avilar SAB will provide guidance to the company as it advances the discovery and development of ATACs (ASGPR Targeting Chimeras) as novel degraders of extracellular proteins involved in the pathogenesis of disease. 

The inaugural members of the SAB are:

  • Andrea Ballabio, MD, Director and Founder of the Telethon Institute of Genetics and Medicine and Professor of Medical Genetics, Federico II University and Visiting Professor, Baylor College of Medicine
  • Dan Kahne, PhD, Higgins Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University
  • Eric Fischer, PhD, Independent Investigator at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Associate Professor of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology at Harvard Medical School
  • David Moller, MD, Chief Scientific Officer, POXEL
  • Michael Rosenzweig, DVM, PhD, Entrepreneur-in-Residence at RA Capital

“We are honored and excited to welcome this group of esteemed scientists and drug discovery experts to our Scientific Advisory Board,” said Daniel Grau, CEO and President of Avilar Therapeutics. “With decades of experience in their respective fields, their counsel will be invaluable to Avilar as we build a pipeline of novel ATAC degraders and continue to advance our technology platform and scientific leadership in extracellular protein degradation.”

Andrea Ballabio, MD
Dr. Ballabio is the founding director of the Telethon Institute of Genetics and Medicine (TIGEM) in Naples, Italy. He is also Professor of Medical Genetics at the University of Naples “Federico II”, Visiting Professor at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, and co-founder of CASMA Therapeutics. Previously, he served in the Department of Molecular and Human Genetics of Baylor College of Medicine in Houston where he was Associate Professor and Co-director of the Human Genome Center. Earlier, he worked as a post-doctoral fellow at the Institute of Genetics and Biophysics in Naples and at Guy’s hospital in London UK. He has authored over 350 publications in international peer-reviewed journals. Dr. Ballabio obtained his MD degree and completed his residency in Pediatrics at the University of Naples, Italy.

Dan Kahne, PhD
Dr. Kahne has been directing a research laboratory at Harvard University since 2004. He is a chemist who is recognized for his work studying the mechanisms of antibiotic killing and resistance. He is particularly known for his studies characterizing the proteins that assemble the outer membrane that protects Gram-negative bacteria. This membrane provides intrinsic resistance to most antibiotics which can kill Gram-positive bacteria. This outer membrane prevents drugs from penetrating into the cell so that they can reach their cellular target. Previously, he served on the chemistry faculty at Princeton from 1988 to 2003, after a postdoctoral fellowship at Columbia. He graduated from Cornell University with a degree in art history and chemistry and from Columbia University in 1986 with a PhD in synthetic organic chemistry. Dr. Kahne is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, American Academy of Microbiology, and the National Academy of Sciences.

Eric Fischer, PhD
Dr. Fischer is an Independent Investigator at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Associate Professor of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology at Harvard Medical School. He is Director of the Center for Protein Degradation at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Dr. Fischer’s research focuses on understanding the molecular architecture, function, and regulation of complex cellular signaling machines and their involvement in cellular processes, as well as leveraging this knowledge to develop new strategies for small-molecule-mediated modulation. Dr. Fischer’s work has significantly contributed to the now widespread use of targeted protein degradation in drug discovery and research. He completed his undergraduate training at the Universities of Hamburg (Germany) and Basel (Switzerland) and completed doctoral training at the Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research, also in Basel.

David Moller, MD
Dr. Moller has extensive experience in biopharmaceutical R&D. He currently serves as Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) at POXEL, a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing therapeutics for metabolic diseases including rare disorders and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). Prior to joining POXEL, he was CSO at Sigilon Therapeutics, a biotechnology company developing a new class of engineered cell-based medicines. Previously, he served in senior R&D and business development roles at Eli Lilly and Merck which led to the launch several new medicines; while on the faculty at Harvard, his laboratory discovered key mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis of metabolic disorders. Dr. Moller has published more than 130 peer-reviewed papers. His honors include election to the American Society of Clinical Investigation, the Association of American Physicians, and appointment as an Adjunct Professor at the Karolinska Institute. He holds an MD from the University of Cincinnati and completed clinical and research training programs at the George Washington and Harvard Universities.

Michael Rosenzweig, DVM, PhD
Dr. Rosenzweig is an entrepreneur-in-residence at RA Capital. He has more than two decades of experience in immuno-oncology and immunology research in both large pharma and biotech settings. Prior to joining RA, Dr. Rosenzweig was Associate Vice President at Merck Research Labs. In this position, he played a critical role in building Merck’s oncology pipeline into one of the most robust in cancer immunotherapy, focusing on a modality-agnostic strategy with a broad biology of targets and Keytruda® combination strategies. He was also responsible for initiating the transition of the autoimmunity strategy from one based on systemic immunosuppression to a targeted immunomodulation approach. Previously, he held discovery leadership roles at Immunext and Tolerx. Dr. Rosenzweig earned a DVM at the University of Pretoria and a PhD in Immunology at the University of Pennsylvania.

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 discovers and develops ATACs (ASGPR Targeting Chimeras), a new class of protein degrader therapeutics that shuttle disease-causing proteins from circulation to the endolysosome where the unwanted proteins are degraded. Avilar has built a proprietary ATAC platform that includes novel, high-affinity, small molecule ASGPR ligands and advanced modeling of the biophysics, pharmacokinetics, and pharmacodynamics of ATAC-mediated endocytosis and degradation. The ATAC 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 the ATAC platform to create a broad and diverse pipeline of first-in-class extracellular protein degraders. Avilar was founded and financed by RA Capital Management and based in Waltham, MA. For more information, please visit www.avilar-tx.com and follow us on Twitter @Avilar_Tx and on LinkedIn.

Media Contact
Kathryn Morris
The Yates Network
914-204-6412
kathryn@theyatesnetwork.com