Richard Tamaki
Molecular Express, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Molecular GPS Technologies has an exclusive license to a virus electrode technology, "Viratrode™", from the University of California, Irvine to pursue commercialization opportunities in pharmaceutical and biotechnology applications.
The Viratrode™ is an exciting new platform technology capable of monitoring biological environments at the molecular level. By coupling the desirable features of biological systems with nanomaterials, hybrid technologies such as Viratrodes™ will lead to a whole new generation of extremely sensitive detection devices that would be highly competitive in todays global market.
The Viratrodes™ technology possesses several advantages including high specificity and sensitivity for a target analyte in an easy-to-use format that provides results within a short period of time. These attractive features will revolutionize many areas of science and technology since the technical capabilities of the Viratrodes™ could be used not only as a diagnostic, but as a real-time analytical tool to accelerate the pace of research and development throughout the world.
Molecular Express, Inc.
Secretary and COO
Dr Scott Thacher
Orphagen focuses on orphan nuclear receptors for which pharmacological data is limited or non-existent and industry competition is minimal. Orphagen’s strengths lie in the validation of novel drug-like small molecule ligands in receptor assays and subsequent clarification of therapeutic utility in target cells and animal models. This "first-to-ligand" strategy attracts industry partners earlier in the drug development cycle than is possible in a more crowded area. By taking this approach, Orphagen signed a discovery and development partnership in autoimmune disease in 2008 with a mid-sized Japanese pharmaceutical company.
Orphagen Pharmaceuticals has been funded through partnership revenues and more than $5.5 million in external grant funding.
Orphagen's project pipeline:
- Castration-resistant prostate cancer, Cushing's syndrome and adrenocortical cancer based on antagonists to steroidogenic factor-1 (SF-1).
- Retinitis pigmentosa (novel target in retina) and the dry form of age-related macular degeneration
- Mood disorders (novel target in CNS) based on modulation of circadian rhythm
TECHNOLOGY
Nuclear receptors are ligand-mediated transcription factors. As a drug class they have been very successful, but 23 of 48 remain unexplored (orphans).
Orphagen has performed the first small molecule validation for several of these orphan nuclear receptors and continues discovery on new targets.
Orphagen chooses targets based on key criteria:
- Restricted expression (not ubiquitous)
- Link between tissue distribution and knockout phenotype
- Plausible therapeutic hypothesis
- Evidence for ligand-binding pocket
