Case Study

Adnexus Therapeutics, Inc.

Founded in 2002 by Frank Lee, Adnexus Therapeutics (formerly known as Compound Therapeutics Inc. – CTI) engages in the development of Adnectins biologics and medicines in the United States. Adnexus is a leader in the discovery and development of Adnectins, a proprietary type of targeted biologic. Adnectins are proteins designed to either block or stimulate therapeutic targets of interest to help fight diseases across a broad range of therapeutic areas. Their proprietary technology for engineering these proteins creates an opportunity to rapidly generate compounds for study as potential treatment options for patients.

Targeted biologics are one of the most medically important and fastest growing areas in the biopharmaceutical industry. These drugs are specifically designed to attack targets of disease. Despite the success of the first generation targeted therapeutic products, such as antibodies, additional innovations are sought by the medical community to help meet unmet needs for improved safety, and efficacy. Adnectins are derived from human fibronectin, an abundant extracellular protein that binds naturally to a number of different proteins. They create Adnectins using their proprietary protein engineering system called PROfusion™. Adnectins were smaller and simpler than antibodies, making them easier and less costly to produce also they were not bound by traditional antibody patents held predominantly by industry giants. Adnectins and PROfusion (purchased Intellectual Property rights) was acquired from a bankrupt company when CTI’s original technology could not give them results.

In its initial days the company struggles to make timely progress as smaller companies were often seen as riskier investments as they did not show any strong pipelines or commercial products. Also patents played an extremely important role in the industry and were a key factor in raising funds .Young companies relied on patents both to...