A new approach to aptamers
Harnessing SELEX technology to find targeted functional molecules
SELEX technology is a well-established synthetic evolution technique that can rapidly identify single-stranded fragments of RNA or DNA capable of selectively binding to specific targets. The resulting molecules have the ability to bind to these targets as least as well, if not better in many cases, than monoclonal antibodies raised against the same target antigens. However, aptamers are synthetic and much smaller than antibodies.
D5Pharma has taken this technology to the next-level by marrying SELEX with proprietary functional assays and next-generation high throughput DNA sequencing to narrow down the vast arrays of available aptamer permutations to those aptamers capable of functionally interacting with the chosen targets and not just binding to them.
The capability of this platform approach to pinpoint both agonists and antagonists of important drug targets, such as TNFα and CD200R1, enables us to develop unique DNA aptamer candidates with enhanced therapeutic potential.