Catalyst Biosciences is developing a new generation of biopharmaceuticals that harness the catalytic power of engineered proteases.

Proteases are naturally occurring protein-cleaving enzymes that regulate a wide variety of biological processes. Catalyst Biosciences is harnessing the power of these enzymes as biopharmaceuticals by either improving marketed protease-based drugs or redirecting them to cleave specific proteins that promote disease. Catalyst calls these redirected engineered proteases "Alterase™ Therapeutics."  

 

Alterase™ Therapeutics have the potential to be very powerful therapeutics due to their catalytic nature.  Unlike standard small molecule or antibody drugs, a single protease molecule can inactivate hundreds to thousands of target molecules, resulting in higher efficacy and lowered dosing.

 

Our technology consists of methods to identify proteases with tailor-made specificity or improved pharmacological properties.  In the former case Catalyst uses its proprietary selection and design technologies to redirect natural human protease towards cleaving a new target, often one that is not addressable using either small molecules or antibodies due to high target concentrations or amplified biological cascades.  In the latter case Catalyst improves marketed protease-based drugs through proprietary protein engineering methods to improve several pharmacologic properties including, potency, duration of action and safety.

 

Catalyst has created two franchise opportunities in both areas of protease engineering.  Our bio-superior coagulation factors VIIa, IX, and X/Xa represent a greater than $8 billion market opportunity, while our anti-complement Alterase program has the potential to target multiple targets in the complement cascade that are associated with several diseases, including age-related macular degeneration (AMD), transplant rejection, paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinurea (PNH), asthma, autoimmune disorders and cardiovascular diseases.