The story of bioconjugates started with a desire to improve the functionality of a biomolecule used in basic research, drug delivery, diagnostic or medical devices. It plays inseparable role in designing & delivery of biomolecule hence it is of great importance in the field of drug development process. Currently bioconjugates are most widely used in delivering oligonucleotides to specific cells and organs.
Bioconjugates involves the science of polymer chemistry, macromolecules & biomolecules. The precise number of bioconjugates that exist is impossible to pinpoint because of the dynamic nature of bioconjugate research and the enormous number of possible combinations. Bioconjugates can been exploited for used in drug development or research based on the type of biomolecule, type of conjugate chemistry & application in medical use. The foundation of bioconjugation is a logical and intelligible molecular design. In isolation, the constituent molecules of a bioconjugate have undergone extensive characterization and have undergone rigorous laboratory testing. Nevertheless, the bioconjugated molecule has unique characteristics once they are combined. [1]
When looked at the type of biomolecule it could be any of the following:
1) Protein-polymer conjugates (PPCs) which are in general protein linked to the synthetic polymer e.g. polyethylene glycol (PEG);
2) Antibody drug conjugates (ADCs) which are antibody linked to the potent drug molecule allowing targeted delivery e.g. Kadcyla (trastuzumab emtansine) is a drug approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of specific types of HER2-positive breast cancer;
3) Nucleic acid conjugates which involve biomolecules as oligonucleotides (DNA, RNA, CRISPER-cas, siRNA etc.) linked to other molecules generally polymers for developing gene therapies or diagnostics;
4) Carbohydrate conjugates involves attaching carbohydrates to other molecules for improving solubility & targeting the specific cell type.
There are notable companies that offer PPCs or related products and services such as Merck KGaA that offers various bioconjugation products and services, including custom PPC synthesis; it's subsidiary Sigma-Aldrich that offers pre-made PPCs and building blocks for PPC synthesis; Creative PEG Works a company specializing in PEGylation (polyethylene glycol conjugation) services, which is a common type of PPC technology ; ProMab Biotechnologies, Inc. providing contract research and manufacturing services for bioconjugates, including PPCs; Adimab LLC a company focused on the discovery and development of fully human antibodies, some of which involve PPC technologies while there are many other companies offering the service and the list is exhaustive. Similarly there are notable companies that offer ADC related products such as Seattle Genetics, Inc. that offers a comprehensive range of ADC development services, including conjugation chemistry, linker and payload development, and manufacturing capabilities; Contract Research Organizations (CROs) like WuXi AppTec , Catalent , and Charles River Laboratories offer a variety of ADC development services, including conjugation, analytical development, and manufacturing support; then ADC based companies e.g. ADC Therapeutics , Roche , and Seagen Inc. also offer ADC development services, often focused on specific ADC platforms or technologies they have developed. Cytiva, formerly GE Healthcare Life Sciences, offers a variety of bioconjugation products and services, including those related to antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs).[2]
There are companies that are making nucleic acid-based conjugates namely TriLink Biotech that offers custom conjugation services; Icos Pharmaceuticals a subsidiary of Eli Lilly and Company that utilize its in-house nucleic acid conjugates to develops and commercializes pharmaceuticals for various therapeutic areas; Mirna Therapeutics is a company focuses on developing microRNA therapeutics, which are a type of nucleic acid-based therapy; Roche Diagnostics offers a variety of diagnostic products that utilizes nucleic acid conjugates and similarly is Asuragen a company that dev...
(All Rights Reserved)