IPA Releases New HYFT-Powered In Silico Humanization Platform, Aims to Disrupt the Transgenic Animal Model Market
ImmunoPrecise Antibodies Ltd.introduced a transformative AI-driven rapid therapeutic screening platform, the result of a collaboration between IPA Canada and its subsidiary, BioStrand. This innovative solution aims to significantly expedite the early stages of drug discovery by enabling the early elimination of less promising therapeutic candidates, thereby reducing time, cost, and the risk of failure during later stage discovery.
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“Our dedication to innovation and pushing the limits of AI-driven therapeutic discovery is represented in this collaboration and integration. We’re all about setting new standards in medicine and driving value for our investors.”
The current transgenic animal model market, reaching USD 17.7 billion in 2021 and expected to grow by 8.1% CAGR from 2022 to 2028¹, has been widely adopted in novel therapeutic discovery, primarily to avoid what was previously seen as time-consuming, expensive, risk-laden, and sometimes unsuccessful humanization processes. However, despite its widespread adoption, transgenics pose limitations of their own, such as a lack of diversity in therapeutic outputs, loss of therapeutic efficacy, and high costs. Addressing these challenges, BioStrand’s recently patented technology introduces a reliable, scalable, and cost-effective alternative for early-stage therapeutic discovery.
BioStrand’s platform, termed the HYFT® Proprietary Proteome Presence Assessment, optimizes potential therapeutic drug candidates at an early stage using the multi-functional LENSai™ in silico humanization platform integrated with its patented HYFT technology. This allows a multitude of potential therapies to be analyzed concurrently, reducing analysis time and costs, and ensuring that only the most promising candidates proceed further into the drug discovery process.
The concept of in silico humanization refers to the computational process of making an antibody or protein from a non-human source resemble human proteins. This is crucial for reducing the likelihood of immune responses against therapeutics, while preserving their functionality.
BioStrand’s patented HYFT technology, incorporated into their proprietary LENSai software, screens the entire human proteome (the entire complement of proteins that is or can be expressed by a cell, tissue, or organism), as well as various animal proteomes, against candidate therapeutics. This screening is accomplished in under one minute per candidate molecule. This process advances the most ‘human-like’ molecules, speeding up humanization, reducing the manipulation required before use in clinical trials, and offering a rapid, scalable, and cost-effective alternative to transgenic animal models.
Other existing methods can only assess candidates against a subset of the human proteome, which can result in an incomplete evaluation of a protein’s humanness and immunogenicity. HYFT technology, however, uniquely addresses this limitation with several distinct advantages, including:
- Use of the most comprehensive human proteome reference set, enabling more thorough comparisons.
- The ability to extract unique Universal Fingerprint™ patterns from biological sequences.
- The capacity to compare the humanized therapeutics to the human proteome, evaluating its similarity to endogenous proteins.
- The ability to capture both sequence and structural information, enabling a better understanding of the protein’s function.
- Scalability and high-throughput capabilities, allowing for rapid assessments of numerous candidate proteins against extensive reference datasets.
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Leveraging these unique capabilities, the HYFT Proprietary Proteome Presence Assessment offers a more accurate and complete assessment of candidates’ humanness and immunogenicity. This supports the development of safer, more effective therapeutic proteins and antibodies while greatly streamlining the drug development process.
“IPA’s smooth fusion of computer-driven humanization and immunogenicity testing paves the way for faster development and boosts the potential of new treatment methods,” stated Dr. Ingrid Brands, Co-Founder and General Manager of BioStrand. “Our dedication to innovation and pushing the limits of AI-driven therapeutic discovery is represented in this collaboration and integration. We’re all about setting new standards in medicine and driving value for our investors.”
IPA has provided insights into its strategic approach for monetizing this breakthrough technology. The plan involves targeting their extensive existing client base, which includes 19 of the top 20 pharmaceutical companies and hundreds of biotechnology firms. These clients typically face substantial costs, when using transgenic animals, to progress a single therapeutic candidate through the commercialization process. These costs often reach tens to hundreds of millions of dollars per molecule, encompassing upfront payments, milestone payments, and commercial royalties. By introducing a more reliable, efficient, and cost-effective solution via IPA’s AI-driven platform, the Company is well-positioned to provide greater results and value for its clients, reducing their costs and accelerating their drug discovery timelines. This increase in quality, productivity, and value is expected to translate directly into increased revenue streams for IPA, fostering substantial financial growth for the Company and its investors.
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