Membrane protein pipeline

Membrane therapeutic targets (GPCRs, ion channels, transporters, etc.) are essential as templates in the development of drug candidates, both in small molecule screening and in the manufacture of therapeutic antibodies, or as antigens in the development of new vaccines. There is therefore a direct link between the quality of a therapeutic target and the reliability of the biodrug obtained downstream. Today, nearly all the available targets are obtained via denaturing purification and stabilization procedures, resulting in less than robust drug candidates and vaccines. This also partly explains the clinical phase failures and the poor performance of some drugs on the market.

There are several thousand therapeutic targets in humans, yet only a few of these are currently available to the pharmaceutical industry. To address this unmet medical need and industry gap, Calixar developed a technology enabling the development of very reliable native therapeutic targets that were previously unavailable; in order to improve the success rate of clinical studies and to open up new therapeutic pathways (1-8).

Calixar validated its technology with numerous clients and partners, from pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to public and private research institutes. Its platform has been used to isolate over 100 client’s targets involved in a number of diseases, many of which had previously never been subject to native and functional isolation.

In 2017, Calixar launched its own pipeline with the goal to provide native, pure and functional membrane targets in a ‘ready-for-drug discovery’ format. In 2019, the recognized quality of Calixar’s therapeutic targets led US biotech company Regeneron Pharmaceuticals to enter into an initial exclusive licensing agreement for a major target developed in this pipeline (9). This agreement then confirmed Calixar’s business strategy, which now proposed exclusive rights on unique membrane therapeutic targets made with its technologies.

From 2021 up to 2025), Calixar will invest 1 million euros for developing new membrane protein targets of interest for pharma and biotech industries. By taking the risk in investing in several challenging targets, Calixar will give Pharma/Biotech companies the possibility of saving time and money. They could validate these targets for their applications, and then could have access to exclusive rights on the targets for their applications.