Competitive Advantages

Prolias' breakthrough technologies will enable the company to establish world leadership in the identification of individual proteins with highly specific function for its clients, partners and its own in-house projects.

The Prolias platform is a unique approach that:

• Uses a combinatorial library to separate and concentrate trace components while simultaneously diminishing abundant species based on the principles of affinity chromatography. The library is made by bulk synthesis techniques.
• Assays representative amounts of all entities present in a complex mixture, including protein complexes, antibodies, and modified proteins, without gene cloning or the need to purify individual proteins one at a time, and without the need to know a priori the biological target.
• Uses ultra-high throughput selection methods compatible with drug discovery platforms.
• Selects only those proteins which possess a desired activity in a disease-relevant assay and compares them with data-bases and patent searches to confirm their novelty.
• Facilitates rapid scale-up of the active protein through affinity purification using the ligand on which it was originally captured during selection, thereby facilitating early validation of the protein in animal models of disease and expediting GMP manufacturing.
• Identifies highly selective affinity resins for the purification of specific proteins or removal of specific contaminants, e.g. prions.
• Has successfully identified a ligand to all proteins evaluated to date.

Unique Competitive Advantages of Prolias Technology

• Identifies different analytes: chemicals, proteins (including antibodies), viruses, etc.
• From a range of diverse starting materials including whole blood
• In a range of different analytical methods: mass spectrometry, ELISA, gels, HPLC, function
• In different formats: columns, dip-sticks, microfluidic chambers
• For identification of individual components for profiling, biomarker and therapeutic discovery
• To complement separation techniques based on other principles, e.g. size, charge
• Provides rapid sample preparation: 15 mins with faster, microfluidic options
• Is robust and simple, yet requires no special training, equipment, or even power supplies for preparation of samples in the field or for point of care
• Allows unbiased selection of analytes with a desired activity from all analytes simultaneously evaluated in ultra-high throughput assays without:
• Purifying proteins prior to evaluation
• Knowing the identity of the active proteins, its receptor or ligand a priori
• Starts at the end point of "functional" proteomics:
• It identifies the protein with the desired activity
• Rapidly scales up the production of the active protein on the discovered ligand

These attributes create significant opportunities for Prolias through in-house, high value discovery and development projects as well as through intellectual property license opportunities for specific fields of use. The in-house projects permit technology transfer prior to full commercialization through selective partnering with companies that have specific, complementary expertise within a defined field of use, thereby allowing Prolias to focus on its highest return: the discovery process.

It should be noted that the technologic applications and patents extend well beyond the healthcare applications targeted by Prolias. Agriculture, pollution control, etc are deemed outside the core goals of the company; however, they may be pursued via license or sponsored research and development agreements if they simultaneously advance the technology for the core applications.