Ossianix, an early stage biopharmaceutical startup that utilizes shark antibodies as a model for drugs to treat central nervous system disorders, has received a strategic investment from Danish pharmaceutical company H Lundbeck.
The investment amount was not disclosed, but Dr. Frank Walsh, cofounder and CEO of Ossianix, said it would be enough to fund the company as it looks for additional investments from pharmaceutical and venture capital firms.
Ossianix’s proprietary single domain antibody platform is modeled on the shark variable new antigen receptor (vNAR) structure. The small size of the shark vNAR single-domain antibodies, their unique mechanism of binding to proteins with very high affinity and the ability to manipulate the final biological product to interact with two or three proteins at the same time opens up therapeutic possibilities that are not easily achieved by alternative methods, a statement from the company said.
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The Philadelphia, Pennsylvania-based company will use this platform to develop novel differentiated CNS products. Lundbeck will retain the right to negotiate for certain products and technologies that come from the research at Ossianix, the statement said.
Among the applications for the platform are Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and pain relief, Walsh said in a phone interview. A steering committee made up of representatives from Ossianix and Lundbeck will be established to determine the project priorities.
Lundbeck has the right to license technology and products arising from the collaboration.
The trend of Big Pharma companies to cut back on research and development in-house in various areas has opened up opportunities for smaller companies to fill the gap.
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“GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: GSK) and AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN), in particular for strategic reasons best known to themselves, have significantly downsized in neuroscience,” Walsh said. “We believe there are strategic opportunities in this space; the need is still there and pharma will wish to partner with external companies and de-risk.”
Walsh started Ossianix last year with Corey S. Goodman, the chairman, who also serves as the chairman of Second Genome, Oligasis and NuMedii, and as a managing director and cofounder of venBio. Goodman previously was president and founder of Pfizer‘s (NYSE: PFE) Biotherapeutics and Bioinnovation Center, a division that focuses on biologics. Walsh previously served as head of discovery research worldwide at Wyeth, which is now part of Pfizer.
The company, based in the University City Science Center, is currently funded by BioAdvance and the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Association.
