Peptone and IOR jointly researching prostate cancer

Peptone, which operates out of Bellinzona in the canton of Ticino and London in the UK, and the Institute of Oncology Research (IOR), likewise based in Bellinzona, have announced the start of a sponsored research cooperation. According to a press release, this will focus on the identification and further development of novel target molecules in oncology, with the aim of developing innovative drugs to combat prostate cancer.

According to Kamil Tamiola, CEO of Peptone, the collaboration with the IOR combines the strength of his company in the identification of intrinsically disordered proteins with the patient-centric insights on cancer delivered by the seminal work undertaken by the research group headed up by Andrea Alimonti, the new Director and Professor of Molecular Oncology at IOR. For its “unique structural insights into disordered targets”, Peptone applies advanced biophysics atomic-level experimental approaches, including a novel ultra-low latency hydrogen-deuterium exchange mass spectrometry (HDX-MS), supercomputing and generative Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Intrinsically disordered proteins play a significant role in health and disease. However, they remain under-researched and are difficult or even impossible to get a handle on via conventional drug discovery methods due to their lack of a fixed structure. “Recent findings from my team demonstrate that advanced prostate cancer is regulated by several intrinsically disordered proteins, many of which can also control the tumor immune response. Targeting those proteins could be a way to defeat this poorly curable disease”, as Alimonti explains in the press release. ce/mm