How Our GeneTAC™ Molecules Work
We are pioneering novel small-molecule therapeutic candidates, called GeneTAC™ molecules (Gene Targeted Chimera), designed to target the underlying cause of inherited nucleotide repeat expansion diseases and potentially modify their course.
Individuals with nucleotide repeat expansion diseases are born with abnormally expanded stretches of specific nucleotide sequences, often with hundreds to thousands of excess repeats present in the mutant gene. A higher number of excess repeats can lead to more severe, and sometimes a more rapidly progressive form of disease. Nucleotide repeat expansion has been identified as the underlying cause of more than 40 debilitating degenerative diseases impacting millions of people. Currently, there are no approved therapeutic options that address the cause of any nucleotide repeat expansion diseases.
Our GeneTAC™ Platform
We utilize our proprietary GeneTAC™ platform to design and develop therapeutic candidates for inherited diseases driven by nucleotide repeat expansion.
GeneTAC™ molecules represent a novel class of small molecules designed to act on a diverse array of diseases. We have developed a proprietary framework that combines our understanding of medicinal chemistry and structure-activity relationships that allow us to design targeted DNA-binding moieties that are connected via a linker to ligand moieties that engage and modulate the transcriptional machinery. GeneTAC™ molecules are heterobifunctional, meaning that they are comprised of two principal moieties, a DNA-binding moiety and a ligand moiety.
The structures of the GeneTAC™ molecules are designed to enable them to act specifically at the site of the disease-causing nucleotide repeat expansion by targeting the mutant allele and modulating the transcriptional machinery in a cell. Consequently, the cell can resume gene expression and production of normal protein isoforms that remain under normal physiological control. The versatility of the GeneTAC™ platform allows us to design GeneTAC™ molecules toward a specific nucleotide repeat expansion target, regardless of repeat number, and tailor it to address the underlying disease-specific dysfunction in gene regulation through restoration of transcription or reduction of toxic gene product levels.