WATERTOWN, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Seismic Therapeutic, Inc., the machine learning immunology company, today announced the presentation of data supporting the broad ability of its IMPACT platform to create novel biologic medicines. The data show how the IMPACT platform was leveraged to design S-1117, an engineered pan-IgG protease suitable for chronic administration and one of the Company’s lead programs, and support its generalizability to create additional biologic modalities beyond pan-IgG proteases. These data on the enhanced capabilities of the IMPACT platform are being highlighted in an invited talk today at the 16th PEGS Europe Protein and Antibody Engineering Summit (PEGS Europe 2024) in Barcelona, Spain.
Seismic’s IMPACT platform integrates machine learning with structural biology, protein engineering, and translational immunology for parallel, multi-property optimization of novel biologic therapies. The Company has built proprietary machine learning algorithms to simultaneously improve developability, modulate function, and minimize immunogenicity to enable the accelerated creation of biotherapeutics.
“We’re very excited to present new data on selected enhancements to Seismic’s IMPACT platform that demonstrate the benefits of integrating machine learning into the drug creation process to rapidly design and optimize novel drug-like protein therapeutics,” said Nathan Higginson-Scott, PhD, Chief Technology Officer at Seismic Therapeutic. “A key component of our approach is the ability to predict and remove both T and B cell epitopes beyond current state-of-the-art techniques, while maintaining other key attributes required to design biologic drugs.”
The oral presentation at PEGS Europe 2024 by Ryan Peckner, PhD, Director and Head of Machine Learning at Seismic Therapeutic, includes the following highlights:
- Original application of the IMPACT platform, using a combination of in silico design and wet lab validation, to design S-1117, an engineered pan-IgG protease variant to reduce both T cell epitopes to prevent de novo anti-drug antibodies (ADA) generation and B cell epitopes to reduce pre-existing ADA binding and support chronic dosing, while retaining its activity and stability
- New application of the IMPACT platform in which Seismic has shown the first example of engineering a protease’s specificity, applying the Company’s multi-objective optimization capabilities to create a selective IgE protease, using a combination of in silico design and wet lab validation, from a protease with both IgG and IgE cleaving properties in a single round of designs, while improving the activity and stability
- In silico sequence design and fitness evaluation indicating that Seismic’s machine learning framework can, in a generalizable way, eliminate immunogenic T cell epitopes across a broad range of additional protein drug modalities, in particular non-protease enzymes and non-monoclonal antibodies, while maintaining their potency with high confidence
“Application of our IMPACT platform to new protein therapeutics for diseases of the immune system has enabled us to make rapid inroads into the design and development of our lead drug candidates – S-1117 , as well as S-4321, a dual-cell bidirectional PD-1 antibody agonist – that are on track to enter the clinic in the first half of 2025,” said John Sundy, MD, PhD, Chief Medical Officer and Head of R&D at Seismic Therapeutic. “These data show how we are strengthening our IMPACT platform to serve as our product engine, creating a range of biologic therapies designed to address diseases more effectively by optimizing for function, minimizing immunogenicity, and enhancing drug-like properties of biologic therapies.”
About Seismic Therapeutic
Seismic Therapeutic™ is a biotechnology company making a major shift in how immunology therapies are created and developed, enabled by machine learning. The company has a growing preclinical stage best-in-class and first-in-class biologics pipeline, derived from its integrated IMPACT platform, to control dysregulated adaptive immunity and address multiple autoimmune diseases. The company is backed by a strong syndicate of life sciences investors and is located in the Boston biotechnology hub. For more information, please visit www.seismictx.com and follow us on LinkedIn and on X @Seismic_Tx.
