Protein therapy delivers to the body what it unfortunately lacks in those who possess a variety of illnesses. It is a medical treatment that has extensive healing possibilities currently being developed in many highly visible fields such as cancer and other debilitating diseases.
Today, this medical treatment exhibits great promise for the future as it is, for the most part, still in development and exploratory stages. The concept is similar to yet also unlike gene therapy in that protein therapy delivers protein to the body in specific amounts in the way it would ordinarily present itself to assist in repairing illnesses, treat pain or remake structures. It is important to view what we know today about protein therapy in an investigational context; however researchers and scientists indeed regard it with hope, as early studies have produced numerous benefits in many cases.
Adding to the promise of protein therapy research and development is Five Prime Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: FPRX), a clinical-stage biotechnology company that has been focusing on the discovery and development of protein therapeutics that block cancer and inflammatory disease processes since 2001.
FPRX’s product candidates include FPA008, an antibody that inhibits colony stimulating factor-1 receptor. The antibody is in Phase Ib clinical trials aimed at the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and in pre-IND stage for pigmented villonodular synovitis and several cancers in combination with nivolumab.
Among the company’s numerous other candidates includes its work in the area of immune-oncology. As of late, immuno-oncology has surfaced as one of the most promising and fastest growing areas of cancer research and drug development. FPRX’s protein discovery model is well-suited to identify novel targets for the development of next generation immuno-oncology therapeutics.
Five Prime’s library, made up from more than 100 different human tissues, comprises more than 5,700 structurally complete and biologically active human proteins. The company feels this represents all of the body’s medically important targets for protein therapeutics and is a deep source of potential future protein drugs. Five Prime’s proprietary screening technology enables it to identify ligand and receptor pairs, which is necessary for the treatment of certain diseases at the highest levels.
Five Prime Therapeutics’ exciting progress does not come without pursuit and execution of collaborative agreements with industry leaders. It has a license and collaboration agreement with GlaxoSmithKline LLC, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company and UCB Pharma S.A. Other efforts are made possible with license agreements with Galaxy Biotech LLC, The Regents of the University of California, BioWa, Inc., The Board of Trustees of Leland Stanford Junior University, National Research Council of Canada and Lonza Sales AG.
For more information on the company, visit www.fiveprime.com
