NEOsphere Biotechnologies from Planegg near Munich announced the completion of a Series A financing round to further expand its proteomics platform that screens extensive small-molecule libraries for degraders of pathogenic proteins previously considered undruggable.
NEOsphere Biotechnologies combines data-independent acquisition mass spectrometry (DIA-MS) with custom-built data interpretation to deliver high-throughput proteomic analysis with superior sensitivity, precision, and data completeness. The platform screens thousands of degrader compounds against more than 10,000 proteins - fast and highly scalable to align with drug development cycles.
Targeted protein degradation (TPD) aims to eliminate rather than inhibit disease-causing proteins. Unlike traditional small-molecule drugs that only inhibit targets, degradation-inducing molecules deplete their targets and do not require active binding sites to exert their effect. Thus, entities like molecular glues, heterobifunctional degraders known as proteolysis targeting chimeras (PROTACs), monovalent degraders, and deubiquitinase inhibitors can potentially target the large part of the human proteome that lacks active binding sites and is thus inaccessible to small-molecule inhibitors. This novel therapeutic mechanism makes protein degraders promising therapeutic agents for indications of high medical need unmet by conventional medicines.
NEOsphere Biotechnologies provides its strategic partners with in-depth screening of compound libraries of any size against the entire human proteome to initiate and drive drug candidate discovery. Once candidates are identified, they are validated as novel degrader targets in a high-throughput manner using powerful technologies.
Prof. Henrik Daub, scientific founder and Chief Scientific Officer of NEOsphere Biotechnologies comments: “To exploit the full potential of TPD, proteome-wide analysis should ideally accompany any degrader molecule, from initial characterization at the screening stage to final drug candidate nomination. Our platform allows for deep proteomic screening compatible with both early target discovery and advanced compound optimization, granting unprecedented access to the previously undruggable target space.”
Specially developed data processing systematically extracts potentially interesting candidates, that are validated as novel degrader targets using powerful technologies such as high-throughput interactomics or ubiquitination analysis to an unparalleled depth of 50,000 sites.