Allosterix is taking a novel approach to inhibiting enzymes, by targeting their allosteric sites.

Name: Allosterix LTD

Founders: Dr. Ariel Solomon, Omer Vunsh

Sector: Biotechnology

Suc-Sector: Drug Discovery

Est.: 2006

Stage: Seed

Vision: becoming a primary supplier of potent selective lead compounds to the drug industry.

Site: www.allosterix-pharma.com

Here’s a hypothetical thought experiment: you left your car engine on, and you want to turn it off. The only problem is that you’re currently located in the International Space Station, while your car is safely down on the Earth.

Hey, I said it was a hypothetical experiment, didn’t I?

So what are you going to do? You’re definitely not going to go down to Earth to switch off your car. It’s just too much of a trouble. Instead, you’re going to tell a robot on Earth to do it. The only problem is – how’s the robot going to identify your car, among the many billions of them?

If you take the most common approach to that problem, you’ll choose to focus on the engine – the most important part of the car. Your robot is going to search for all the engines similar to your car’s, and turn them all off. The only problem is that using this approach, plenty of other cars are going to be turned off as well. That’s probably not the best way to get the job done, but that’s how most enzyme inhibitors work now-days. When a certain enzyme in the body needs to be shut off, a drug is designed that can identify the active site of the enzyme – that’s the part of the enzyme where it’s doing its job – and bind to that site and shut off the enzyme. But since many active sites are quite similar to each other, even in different enzymes, the drug is also going to shut off many other useful enzymes as well.

Allosterix is a start-up company established in 2006 and financed by the Chief Scientist office via the technology incubator of Yozmot. This company is taking a different stance on the subject. Instead of trying to focus on the active site of enzymes, they have developed a novel technology platform to identify useful allosteric sites, and build molecules that bind to those unique allosteric sites, and hence, selectively shut down enzyme’s activity. Basically, it’s the same idea as telling your robot to go look only for the correct vehicle registration plate. The only vehicle that will be shut down will be your own.

Allosterix’ first success was proven recently with an enzyme named TACE (TNF alpha converting enzyme). This enzyme takes part in the convoluted process of switching on the inflammatory system in the body, and thus is involved in plenty of auto-immune disorders such as RA (Rheumatoid Arthritis), IBD (irritating bowel’s disease), Crohn’s disease, Psoriasis, Asthma, Septic shock and different types of cancers. In each of the above, the main problem is that the immune system gets out of control and overreacts. To date, the industry has had no success in targeting TACE selectively.  By targeting the allosteric sites of TACE, Allosterix hopes to reduce the activity level of the inflammatory system and restore balance to the body. So far, they’ve managed to design a new molecule and prove its potency, efficacy and selectivity in mice. Currently Allosterix negotiate on investment to begin the full regulative pre-clinical trials.