Oxford, United Kingdom – 28 February 2022 – OMass Therapeutics (‘OMass’ or ‘the Company’), a biotechnology company identifying medicines against highly validated target ecosystems, is pleased to provide an update on its proprietary drug discovery platform, OdyssION™ and its progress in identifying novel medicines against intractable or inadequately drugged membrane and complex-bound proteins. Early data and progress in its gasdermin D program underline the power of the platform.
The OdyssION™ platform allows OMass to interrogate how a protein interacts with its native ecosystem, separate from the confounding complexity of the cell. The result is cell-system fidelity with cell-free precision.
The platform integrates novel biochemistry techniques, next generation native mass spectrometry and custom chemistry. This allows us to preserve a target’s downstream partners (e.g., lipids and other endogenous regulatory molecules) and for biology to be distilled to its essential elements, physical interactions within a native ecosystem. These interactions can then be measured at high resolution with our patent protected native Mass spectrometry technology, initially pioneered by OMass’ founder, Professor Dame Carol Robinson. Carol’s achievements were recognized last year as she was awarded the 2022 Louis-Jeantet Prize for Medicine and the 2022 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Chemistry.
The OdyssION™ platform has been instrumental in OMass’ search for a gasdermin-D (GSDMD) inhibitor. GSDMD is a pore-forming protein that sits at the heart of multiple inflammatory cell death pathways and has proven undruggable to date. However, due to the power of the OdyssION™ platform, OMass has been able to identify a functional hit series. The Company’s current lead indication for its GSDMD programme is Familial Mediterranean Fever, an inherited autoinflammatory disease that causes recurrent episodes of fever and pain in the stomach, joints and muscles.
The benefits of the OdyssION™ platform and how these have aided OMass in its search for a GSDMD inhibitor include:
- Linking binding and function: GSDMD-caspase complex can be observed with the mass spectrometer, which allows OMass to measure a hit’s impact on complex formation
- Interrogation of a native ecosystem at high precision: a novel cation which is required for the binding of certain compounds has been identified
- Identification of binders with high sensitivity: OMass has found binders which would have been lost in the noise in cell-based assays
Rosamond Deegan, CEO of OMass said: “Discovering novel binders to Gasdermin has proved unattainable by other companies and methodologies to date. Our OdyssION™ platform has allowed us to interrogate GSDMD in the context of its ecosystem and has enabled us to explore its physical interactions without the confounding complexity of the cell. The progress we have made towards identifying inhibitors for this target is very exciting and really highlights the power of our platform.”
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For further information, please contact:
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OMass Therapeutics |
Consilium Strategic Communications |
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Rosamond Deegan, Chief Executive Officer Phone: +44 (0) 1235 527589 Email: ros.deegan@omass.com
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Sue Charles / Chris Gardner / Kumail Waljee Phone: +44 (0)20 3709 5700 Email: omass@consilium-comms.com
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About OMass Therapeutics
OMass Therapeutics is a biotechnology company identifying medicines against highly validated target ecosystems such as membrane proteins or intracellular complexes. The Company’s unique technology platform comprises novel biochemistry techniques, next generation native mass spectrometry and custom chemistry. This allows OMass to interrogate not just the target but how it interacts with its native ecosystem, separate from the confounding complexity of the cell. The result is cell-system fidelity with cell-free precision. OMass is advancing a pipeline of small molecule therapeutics in rare diseases and immunological conditions, targeting solute carriers, complex-bound proteins and GPCRs.
Headquartered in Oxford, UK, OMass is backed by a top-tier investor syndicate, Syncona and Oxford Science Enterprises, having closed a ~$60m Series A funding.
To learn more, please visit www.omass.com. Follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter