Covalent Bioscience is the company formed to carry forward work on catalytic antibodies capable of clearing aggregated proteins found in old tissues, such as transthyretin amyloid. This type of amyloid, a misfolded protein that disrupts normal tissue function when present in large enough amounts, is associated with cardiovascular mortality and osteoarthritis, and is thought to be a prevalent cause of death in supercentenarians. The advantage of catalytic antibodies over normal antibodies is that they bind to the target site on a protein, then destroy that site, then move on. One antibody can attack thousands of targets, making low doses potentially highly effective.

Covalent Bioscience is one of a handful of startups and young companies working on science funded in part by the SENS Research Foundation, the foundation for rejuvenation therapies based on repairing and reversing the fundamental cell and tissue damage that causes aging, such as the presence of amyloid. There are a now a number of serious investors and venture firms interested specifically in SENS strategies to treat aging, including figures such as Jim Mellon, Peter Thiel, Michael Greve, James Peyer, and so forth - far more than was the case just a few years ago. This is the time for SENS startup companies to flourish, and gain the funding needed to bring the first batch of rejuvenation therapies to the clinic.

We are a development stage company with intellectual property rights to novel therapeutic antibodies and chemically activated vaccines in all major markets. These rights have been developed from discoveries indicating the power of the immune system to use covalent bonding as the basis for synthesizing antibodies that neutralize and remove target antigens with efficacy and safety superior to conventional antibodies. The two classes of therapeutic monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) being developed by Covalent, Inc are: (a) irreversible MAbs (iMAbs), which bind and neutralize the target antigen with virtually infinite affinity, (b) catalytic MAbs (cMAbs), which hydrolyze and destroy the target antigen in an enzyme-like manner. Covalent, Inc has proof-of-principle for superior efficacy and diminished side effects of the cMAbs/iMAbs compared to conventional MAbs that bind the target antigen reversibly. Covalent's cMAbs/iMAbs are isolated from the innate immune repertoire that has developed by Darwinian evolution, and immunization with Covalent's electrophilic antigen analogs induces the synthesis of the cMAbs/iMabs adaptively. Covalent is in a position to generate cMAbs/iMAbs to diverse antigen targets for development as immunotherapies. In addition, Covalent is developing the electrophilic antigen analogs as therapeutic and prophylactic vaccine for unmet medical needs. Covalent has in hand: (a) candidate immunotherapeutic cMAbs to amyloid proteins for treating central nervous system and systemic amyloidosis, and (b) a candidate electrophilic vaccine for treating and preventing HIV infection.

Link: http://www.covalentbioscience.com/