Swedish Biotech Update

CEO Torben Jørgensen and
CSO Stefan Ståhl

Mapping of the human genome is finally complete. But with all this knowledge, scientists now face the monumental task of interpreting the vast amount of information that was acquired in the process.
Affibodies will be a key tool in the exploration of protein function.
Their goal: the drugs of tomorrow.

Affibody AB
Founded: 1998
Publicly listed: No
Number of employees: 40
Key business area(s): Proteomics, Biotherapy
Telephone: +46 8 458 95 45
Website
Contact

Protein engineering
leads the quest for better drugs

The mission – to characterize and assign functions to the multitude of proteins encoded in the human genome – is challenging. It will require resilient, high-throughput methods in order to succeed.
   Such methods are the forte of Affibody AB, a Swedish proteomics and biotherapy company which is pioneering the development of combinatorial protein engineering. The company has developed a holistic ''brute-force'' process for generating tools and information for proteomics and functional genomics.
   Simply put, the company develops and uses an entirely new patented technology to produce small, robust proteins that can mimic characteristics of monoclonal antibodies. These Affibodies can be engineered to target and bind to other proteins. Like a state-of-the-art biotech fishing rod.
   The process of tracking down and binding a single protein using regular monoclonal antibodies is expensive and slow. Today, every protein needs its own tool, making this operation one of the most complex in the biotech industry. And the result is not always satisfactory.
   With Affibodies as the key tool of the future, all this will change.
“Our robust Affibody ligands can be engineered to bind to any desired protein target and meet extremely high stability demands. And although they're only four percent of the size of a monoclonal antibody, Affibodies bind at least as specifically with high binding strength”, says professor Stefan Ståhl, Chief Scientific Officer of the company.
   CEO Torben Jørgensen firmly believes that the Affibody’s ability to target specific cells will play an important role in the development of future therapeutics.
   “The great thing is that since all drugs are binding molecules, Affibody’s solutions can be used to understand and enhance the development of new, effective cures for many types of diseases, using a novel form of protein tool. Our goal is now to build an exclusive database of identified proteins where drug companies and scientists can find exactly what they're looking for,” says Jørgensen.

Professor Mathias Uhlén

A pioneer in the field of modern biotechnology and co-founder of Affibody, Dr Mathias Uhlén is Professor of Microbiology at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden.

Protein pioneer

”Traditionally, Sweden has always been extremely successful in the areas of biotechnology and protein research. This dates back to the days of Nobel laureates The Svedberg and Arne Tiselius. The Swedish strength in technology-driven protein research has continued and led to Swedish-based companies that are world leaders in areas such as protein separation, Amersham Pharmacia Biotech, and "chip" devices for protein analysis, Biacore, both located in Uppsala. Part of the success of these companies is due to solid basic research and the strong relationship be-tween the academic world and the biotech industry,” says Uhlén.
At the age of 47, Professor Uhlén has published more than 300 scientific papers, many related to protein research. Already in the early 80's, he was part of the team that cloned and developed a recombinant process for protein A, a protein still used by scientists world-wide for purification of antibodies.

Twenty years later, proteins are still on his agenda.
”Although publication of the sequence of the human genome earlier this year was a remarkable achievement, this has actually led to attention being refocused from the genome and genes to the products of the genes: the proteins. Proteins are the cornerstones of life and responsible for almost all of our diseases. Understanding how proteins work means understanding the chemistry of life and the cause of human diseases. At the end of the day, understanding the proteins means that it's possible to develop new and better drugs,” says Uhlén.

A comprehensive guide to Affibody terminology
Affibody:	A novel class of engineered binding proteins developed by Affibody AB (see illustration). These binding proteins are much smaller and more robust than antibodies (see ”Antibody”) and can be produced at large scale using low-cost production systems.
Affinity:	Term to describe that two molecules bind each other (has affinity for each other).
Antibody:	The body’s ”soldier molecules”, produced by the immune system to attack and label invaders for destruction by binding to them. Antibodies are large and complex proteins that need sophisticated methods for their industrial production.
Gene:	Specific parts of the genome which contain the ”blue print” for how a specific protein later should be assembled. The number of genes in the human genome have been estimated to approximately 30,000.
Genome:	An organism’s complete content of genetic information, e.g. the human genome reside in 23 pairs of chromosomes in each body cell.
Ligand:	A molecule e.g. protein that is capable of recognizing and binding to a second molecule.
Mapping:	Broad term to describe work aiming at establishing the localization (position) of e.g. proteins in the cell or genes in the genome.
Protein:	Proteins are the true ”working horses” of the cell. They have each a specific task to play in the ”chemistry of life”, e.g. some digest the food we eat, others protect us from invaders or are involved in the signalling processes between cells. Proteins are quite large and complex molecules produced by a cell’s “machinery” in a stepwise addition of building blocks (amino acids) into a chain (typically 50-1000 amino acids) which later folds into a more compact structure. The instruction for how this assembly takes place is stored in the genes.
Proteomics:	Term used to describe research aiming at an understanding of the functions of all proteins. For the vast majority of the proteins present in the human body, we have at present no clue of what they are doing. This field of research needs high-throughput methods to enable the study of proteins in global manner, to gain an understanding of the complexity on how proteins collaborate in the cell.
Separomics:	This term is used to describe the field of biotechnology related to the purification of biomolecules. For each and every protein a dedicated strategy is needed for its purification from complex samples containing huge amounts of unwanted molecules.