exclusively focused on the development of industry-leading antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) technology platforms, today announced that a key patent covering its HydraSpace™ spacer technology has been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (US 9,636,421 B2).
With the granting of this patent, Synaffix has secured end-to-end patent protection of its
ADC technology platform, embodied by a growing portfolio of granted patents that now
cover all three core areas of Synaffix ADC technology including GlycoConnect™,
HydraSpace™ and metal-free click chemistry.
HydraSpace™ is a compact and highly polar spacer, which has consistently demonstrated
the ability to significantly enhance ADC stability (reduced aggregation) and expand the
therapeutic index of an ADC, beyond what is achieved by GlycoConnect™ alone.
HydraSpace™ was originally designed to enable efficient attachment of the most
challenging hydrophobic payloads, such as pyrrolobenzodiazepines (PBDs), to an
antibody. Additionally, the branching capability of HydraSpace™ enables the dualwarhead
ADC format, which is characterized by the attachment of two distinct payload
types to the same antibody. This approach provides the possibility to deliver two different
mechanisms of action to the same cell, which may represent a key strategy in the
eradication of cancer stem cells and the treatment of multi-drug resistant forms of cancer.
“HydraSpace™ has confirmed our expectations as it has demonstrated its potential across
numerous comparative studies, including against other mainstream site-specific
conjugation technologies. As such, it represents a key differentiator for ADC product
candidates being developed by our collaborators” said Peter van de Sande, CEO of
Synaffix who added, “with the HydraSpace™ patent now granted, we have secured patent
protection through at least 2035 for products developed using our technology.”
About GlycoConnect™ and HydraSpace™ Platforms
The Synaffix technology platforms include GlycoConnect™, the site-specific and stable
antibody conjugation technology that involves proprietary enzymes and metal-free click
conjugation reagents, and HydraSpace™, the ADC-enhancing spacer technology.
GlycoConnect™ was shown to be capable of significantly enhancing the therapeutic
index of an ADC on its own. The highly polar properties of HydraSpace™ improve the
solubility and stability of the payload and the resulting ADC product, thus enhancing
further the therapeutic index of the ADC. Both technologies have demonstrated
compatibility with all ADC payload classes and all IgG isotypes and can be applied
directly to an existing antibody without any engineering.
About Synaffix BV
Synaffix BV is a Netherlands-based biotechnology company exclusively focused on the
continued advancement of best-in-class ADC technology platforms.
As a leading innovator in the field of ADCs offering absolute versatility and state-of-theart
solutions, our vision is to become the preferred partner in the development of these
complex biological therapeutics and realize our ambition – connect to cure™.
Synaffix is backed by a top tier, life science-focused investor syndicate including Aravis,
BioGeneration Ventures, BOM Capital and M Ventures, the strategic corporate venture capital fund of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany.
For more information, please visit the website at www.synaffix.com.
Synaffix BV Contact
Anthony DeBoer
Director, Business Development
bd@synaffix.com
