Peptide Modality: An Emerging Class of Multi-functional Cytokine Inhibitors
Nazli Azimi
CEO, Bioniz
Anti-cytokine therapy has been proven to be a valid therapeutic approach for the treatment of variety of immune-mediated diseases. However, this approach has been dominated by monoclonal antibodies (MAb) that broadly target either the cytokine receptor or the cytokine itself. As an alternative, Bioniz has pioneered the use of peptides as a modality to specifically target select cytokines. The Bioniz platform technology exploits a proprietary rational design to create and optimize peptides that target a common receptor that is shared by multiple cytokines. The unique advantage of this strategy vs MAbs is that peptides are small and can selectively target the binding site of some cytokines that use the shared receptor but not the other cytokines. A MAb that targets the shared receptor blocks the interaction of all cytokines that utilize this common receptor, thereby decreasing specificity of the therapy. Bioniz’s peptide inhibitors act like larger bi-specific and multi-specific antibodies but without the undue risks brought on by their use. Preclinical and clinical data for Bioniz’s lead drug are going to be presented.
Dr. Azimi is Bioniz’ founder, co-inventor of its core technology, and has served as Company’s President and CEO since its inception. Dr. Azimi is a graduate of University of Tehran and recipient of a post-doctoral fellowship program in immunology at one of the premier research groups at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) with a focus on cytokine biology. During her training and later as an independent scientist, she made seminal contributions to the field, and developed the knowledge and the idea that later became the foundation for Bioniz’s multi-cytokine inhibitory platform technology. After NIH, Dr. Azimi joined the faculty at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, where she studied immune cytokine responses to herpes virus. Prior to founding Bioniz, Dr. Azimi served as founder and CEO of Dermaheal USA, a privately held dermatology company. Dr. Azimi has authored over 40 peer-reviewed, high impact scientific publications and is the inventor of more than a dozen patents, including the Bioniz intellectual property patent estate. She is an advisor to the Dean of Pharmacy School at the Chapman University. She is also the recipient of 2017 EY Winning Women and 2019 Women in Business in Orange County.