ELP Biopolymers Significantly Enhance the Pharmacology of Therapeutic Peptides
Jim Ballance
VP Research & Scientific Affairs, PhaseBio Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Fusion of peptides or proteins to different Elastin-Like Polypeptide biopolymers (ELPs) enables precise modulation of pharmacokinetics, from rapid uptake to slow release from the injection site. The individual building blocks of ELPs are derived from a five amino acid motif found in nature in the human protein elastin. A unique attribute that distinguishes PhaseBio’s technology is the property of ELP fusion molecules to undergo a fully reversible phase transition (or coacervation) at or above a specific temperature. For ELP fusion proteins with a transition temperature slightly below body temperature, a coacervate forms at the subcutaneous injection site, from which the protein is released slowly over time. This technology has enabled PhaseBio to create very long acting versions of otherwise rapidly cleared or degraded peptides. The company’s clinical development pipeline includes PE0139, a monomeric, ultra-long acting native insulin-ELP fusion for once weekly administration for basal insulin therapy in diabetes and PB1046, a stable long-acting vasoactive intestinal polypeptide-ELP fusion for treatment of acute and chronic cardiopulmonary diseases.
Dr. Ballance has over 25 years of experience in the biotechnology industry, within both small biotech and large pharma, specializing in early stage research, product development, cGMP manufacturing, technology transfer, and in the management of intellectual property. He has led the development of drug products from conception, through process development and scale-up to manufacturing and has extensive experience in business development interactions with large pharma and biotech companies. He was vice president of technology development at BioRexis Pharmaceuticals, prior to which he was director of business development at Aventis Behring. Jim invented albumin fusion proteins while at Delta Biotechnology in the UK, where he was director (head) of research and development. He is currently VP Research and Scientific Affairs at PhaseBio Pharmaceuticals.