UbiquiTx aims to develop transformational therapies for patients with life-threatening diseases by pioneering the next generation of targeted protein modulators. The company is initially focused on the targeted protein degradation/stabilization of liver disease targets that can move quickly to the clinic with room for expansion to other indications. Our enzymes, Chimeric Ligands for Induced Proximity (CLIPS), are a combination of AI-designed protein-targeting peptide, a linker, and an enzyme of choice that can modulate a target's stability, interaction, location, and activation status. Our AI peptides can be designed to bind to a diverse set of disease-relevant undruggable proteins and to date, we have demonstrated the ability to modulate transcription factors, fusion proteins, membrane proteins, viral proteins, and enzymes in a short period of time. CLIPs are compatible with various delivery methods including LNPs, AAVs, and polymers.
What is the problem?
Disease causing proteins can be dysfunctional through a myriad of modifications that affect protein structure and function. These perturbations result in a wide array of undruggable diseases ranging from metabolic disease to cancer to neuro-degenerative disease, However, most proteins are difficult to target by conventional approaches leaving approximately 80% of the proteome undruggable. At the same time, current therapeutic modalities generally rely on inhibition and knockdown approaches without directly addressing the true mechanism of disease driven by an array of post-translational modifications. The combined effect is a large array of diseases and their root causes both difficult to target and inappropriately addressed.
What is their solution?
Our programmable and modular enzymes, Chimeric Ligands for Induced Proximity (CLIPS), are a combination of AI-designed protein-targeting peptide, a linker, and an enzyme of choice that can modulate a target's stability, interaction, location, and activation status. Our AI peptides can be designed to bind to a diverse set of disease-relevant undruggable proteins and to date, we have demonstrated the ability to modulate transcription factors, fusion proteins, membrane proteins, viral proteins, and enzymes in a short period of time. Our substantial preliminary data demonstrates our ability to design high-affinity peptide binders utilizing a proprietary AI/ML peptide design platform to targets of interest, to swap out various modification enzymes including both ubiquitinases and de-ubiquitinases, and to deliver our CLIPs in vivo with successful target engagement. CLIPs are compatible with various delivery methods including LNPs, AAVs, and polymers.
