ActoBiotics™:
A New Class of Biopharmaceuticals to Address Today’s Healthcare Needs
ActoGeniX believes that ActoBiotics™ represent a paradigm shift in the delivery of biological molecules for therapeutic treatment and have the potential to significantly broaden the use of biopharmaceuticals.
During the past two decades, biopharmaceuticals have emerged as a major and fast-growing product class in the pharmaceutical industry, generating a turnover of US $ 65 billion in 2006 and growing by >20% annually. High specificity and low inherent toxicity are important advantages of protein- or peptide-based therapeutics. However, the injection of relatively high doses of therapeutic proteins in patients results in systemic exposure that may lead to significant and unwanted side effects.
ActoBiotics™ are delivered to patients via oral administration instead of injection, and specifically target receptors and cells localized in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. Because of this local delivery and specific targeting of GI receptors, ActoBiotics™ are expected to deliver excellent efficacy combined with a more favorable side‑effect profile. Such characteristics represent a significant competitive advantage in today’s pharmaceutical market, where safety and the absence of adverse events have become major considerations for the introduction of new therapies.
ActoBiotics™ are created using TopAct™ technology and consist of living food-grade bacteria that are engineered to synthesize and secrete therapeutic proteins or peptides. ActoGeniX has chosen the food bacterium Lactococcus lactis as the preferred microorganism for the development of its ActoBiotics™. Lactococcus lactis has been used for thousands of years in the preparation of food products, such as cheese, and is widely recognized as completely safe for human consumption.
ActoGeniX has chosen to initiate development of ActoBiotics™ that deliver proteins and peptides with significantly validated efficacy and safety, thereby reducing development risk compared to conventional pharmaceutical products. In addition, ActoBiotics™ are simple oral capsules, which results in greater patient compliance and reduced treatment cost. ActoBiotics™ are manufactured by straightforward bacterial fermentation and freeze-drying (lyophilization). Hence, their production process is more efficient and cost-effective than for most biopharmaceuticals.
