IFP/SCAN™ Technology

Receptor BioLogix’s IFP/SCAN™ technology is a new generation of “gene finder” the company has used to identify novel biotherapeutic candidates directly from known human gene sequences.

Recent work by the company and academic institutions has shown that exon sequences of DNA can be fused with so-called intron sequences once thought to consist of junk DNA. In this way, multiple proteins with different functions can be produced from a single gene. This so-called alternative splicing to produce spliced variants, often with opposing functions, provides an important mechanism for regulating cellular metabolism.

INTRON FUSION PROTEINS (IFP™)

Receptor BioLogix has coined the term Intron Fusion Proteins (IFPs) to describe these unique regulatory proteins because they combine amino acids coded by exons and introns. The company has applied IFP/SCAN technology to discover inhibitors of angiogenesis, the generation of new blood vessels essential for tumor growth and other unwanted cellular proliferation. Its research team has identified more than 60 novel IFPs. Five IFPs have already demonstrated activity in a mouse model of collagen-induced arthritis. While work continues to fully describe their mechanism of action, it is likely that each of these molecules interferes with a distinct step in the process of angiogenesis.