Based in Cambridge, UK, Bicycle Therapeutics, the latest LMB spin out, will combine the most desirable features of small molecules and biologics to create highly specific and stable drugs.
Bicycle Therapeutics has developed a new novel technology platform using phage display to select peptidic sequences that are cyclized on a chemical core.
Sir Gregory Winter said “You can regard these molecules as small molecule drugs with peptide side chains, or as novel biologics, tiny therapeutic proteins with a covalently cross-linked core. Not surprisingly they combine features of each drug class, and we should therefore be able to create drugs with novel properties. It should also speed up the process of drug development”.
Bicycle Therapeutics is a spin out of LMB resulting from pioneering work from Dr Christian Heinis and Sir Gregory Winter, a scientific founder from CAT and Domantis. The new company was set up in July with funding from Atlas Venture and Novartis Venture Fund and in November concluded a license agreement with Pepscan for use of technology related to the chemical core. The new biotech is managed by Dr John Tite, its Chief Executive Officer, and will be based at Babraham Science Campus.
“It is very satisfying to see another new company coming from the Laboratory’s research, and we will continue to work with the company to ensure that the benefits of this technology are realised as quickly as possible to improve human health” said the Director of the Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Dr. Hugh Pelham.