Follow the Water

The ABC Platform

Inspired by Nature, Designed with Water in Mind.

The ABC Platform is at the heart of our portfolio of retina medicines.

This innovative platform uses our bio-inspired polymer to orchestrate water around a purpose-built antibody to power new and enduring capabilities.

IgG1 Antibody

Engineered to bind to its target with high affinity and specificity and to be immune silent.

Biopolymer

The branched biopolymer binds water, enabling our ABC medicines to move efficiently toward and effectively bind to their targets.

Made of phosphorylcholine, it is optically clear, has a high molecular weight and is recognized as native by the body.

The ABC Platform creates a water force field around the antibody without obstructing the binding sites.

This makes the bioconjugate optically clear and imbues it with special properties because it focuses the antibody on its target while shielding it from non-targets during its journey.

The ABC Platform

Precision engineered for increased durability and efficacy

Same Where It Matters

Clinically proven targets
Antibody-based biologic
Intravitreal injection: 25M+ per year
Optically clear, no residues
Fast and potent clinical responses

Different Where It Counts

Designed-in ocular durability
Designed-in rapid systemic clearance
Improved bioavailability
Improved biocompatibility
Improved stability

The bioconjugate harnesses the power of water. Water strongly influences the behavior of a molecule in its local environment.

Explore the role water plays in these key attributes of our ABC Platform.

NATURE'S ZWITTERION
STRUCTURED, MACROMOLECULAR WATER
NON-ADSORPTIVE
FRICTIONLESS
STEREOSPECIFIC DOCKING
FAST SYSTEMIC CLEARANCE

NATURE'S ZWITTERION

The biopolymer is made of phosphorylcholine, a building block of our cell membranes. Phosphorylcholine is electroneutral (a zwitterion) and biocompatible.

Phosphorylcholine is special because it is the strongest water-binding zwitterion. It attracts and binds water in a strong and permanent way.

The Role of Zwitterionic Phosphorylcholine in Nature

The Role of Zwitterionic Phosphorylcholine in the ABC Platform

On the external surface of our cells is the phospholipid bilayer, made of hydrophilic phosphorylcholine head groups and lipid tails.

Phosphorylcholine is a zwitterion (a balance of positive and negative), enabling it to attract and permanently bind water molecules.

This hydrophilic phosphorylcholine creates a water microenvironment in which water molecules are structured — irreversibly bound at the cell surface to the phosphorylcholine groups, forming a kind of “liquid ice”.

This water microenvironment is important because it conditions and participates in local biomolecular interactions.

Phosphorylcholine is the primary lipid head group (>95%) on the external surface of all human cells.

Biopolymer binding to water creates structured water layers.

In the ABC Platform, each biopolymer arm contains many hundreds of phosphorylcholine molecules – the strongest water binding zwitterion.

Each arm binds a tremendous amount of water very tightly. The water becomes less structured or loose farther away from the phosphorylcholine molecules.

STRUCTURED, MACROMOLECULAR WATER

In essence these water layers provide radial coverage of the bioconjugate like a force field – without obstructing the binding sites. This is called "structured, macromolecular water."

This makes our ABC medicines optically clear and imbues them with new and special properties.

See Why By Traveling Through the Eye

The bioconjugate is designed to enter the eye via intravitreal injection. It is optically clear and has the benefit of a long residence time in the vitreous.

Target

Bioconjugate

Non-Adsorptive

As it continues to travel through the eye, this water force field protects the bioconjugate and prevents non-specific interactions. In other words, the bioconjugate is non-adsorptive.

The bioconjugate can slip through crowded or tight areas, like retinal tissue, that could otherwise impede it.

Frictionless

Furthermore, the high lubricity of the bioconjugate also allows it to have ultra low friction, enabling it to penetrate tissues.

The Role Water Plays in Binding to Targets

Water influences antibody potency, enabling the bioconjugate to bind to targets such as VEGF with high affinity and specificity.

STEREOSPECIFIC DOCKING

The bioconjugate orients the target in a specific way to optimize binding.
Water molecules, working together with hydrophilic amino acid side chains of the antibody and the target, direct this stereospecificity.

A tight bond is secured.
Once closely positioned, all the other amino acids secure a tight bond between the bioconjugate and target.

The bioconjugate pinpoints its target.

ABC Leaving the Eye

Bioconjugate bound to target and being cleared from the eye through the choroidal circulation.

FAST SYSTEMIC CLEARANCE

The bioconjugate exits the eye intact, leaving no residue behind. It is rapidly cleared through the systemic circulation, minimizing the impact on the rest of the body.

The bioconjugate does not get recycled by the body because it is designed to evade the body's antibody recycling mechanism.

THE ABC PLATFORM

The First Bio-Inspired Water Enhanced Biologic

Explore the Pipeline

Antibody Biopolymer Conjugate (ABC) Platform

The antibody and biopolymer are stably bound to create a bioconjugate.
The bioconjugate enters and exits the eye intact leaving no residual material.

The stable, single-site specific linkage is non-degradative and non-erodible.