GERMANTOWN, Md. and
ROCKVILLE, Md., Aug. 10, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Intrexon
Corporation (NYSE:XON), a leader in synthetic biology, and
Synthetic Biologics, Inc. (NYSE MKT: SYN), a clinical-stage company
focused on developing therapeutics to protect the microbiome while
targeting pathogen-specific diseases, today announced an Exclusive
Channel Collaboration (ECC) to pursue the development and
commercialization of novel biotherapeutics for the treatment of
patients with phenylketonuria (PKU), a serious and debilitating
metabolic disorder. Through the ECC, the companies plan to utilize
Intrexon's ActoBiotics™ platform providing a proprietary method of
delivering therapeutic protein and peptides to the gastrointestinal
(GI) tract through food-grade microbes.
![Synthetic Biologics, Inc. Logo. Synthetic Biologics, Inc. Logo.](http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnvar/20130522/MM19465LOGO)
"We are excited to build on our existing relationship with
Intrexon through this new collaboration," commented Jeffrey Riley, Chief Executive Officer, of
Synthetic Biologics. "We believe a biotherapeutics-based approach
has great potential to provide relief for patients managing this
devastating disease and an opportunity to improve upon current
therapies that rely on constant dietary monitoring and drugs to
increase phenylalanine breakdown. The development of these
biotherapeutics expands our pipeline of products targeted for
release in the GI tract without adverse impact on the natural
balance of the patient's gut microbiome."
PKU is a genetic disease that begins at birth characterized by a
deficiency in the liver enzyme that breaks down the essential amino
acid phenylalanine (Phe), a building block of proteins normally
obtained through the foods we eat. As a result, Phe accumulates in
the body, becoming toxic and leading to serious health
consequences, including profound mental retardation, brain damage,
mental illness, behavioral problems, seizures, tremors, limited
cognitive ability and hyperactivity. If left untreated, the most
severe form of PKU leads to permanent cognitive damage. PKU affects
more than 14,000 people in the U.S. and an estimated 50,000 people
across developed nations globally. There is no existing cure for
PKU, requiring patients to maintain a life-long treatment program
and carefully controlled diet.
Samuel Broder, M.D., Senior Vice
President and Head of Intrexon's Health Sector, said, "The goal of
our collaboration is for our ActoBiotics™ program to deliver a key
enzyme to facilitate the breakdown of phenylalanine and thereby
prevent the toxicity in these patients." Dr. Broder added, "We are
very pleased that Intrexon's suite of complementary technologies
and proprietary industrial processes will facilitate our ECC
partner, Synthetic Biologics, in the development of new therapies
for PKU."
About Synthetic Biologics, Inc.
Synthetic Biologics, Inc. (NYSE MKT: SYN) is a
microbiome-focused, clinical-stage company developing therapeutics
to protect the microbiome while targeting pathogen-specific
diseases. The Company's lead candidates in Phase 2 development
include SYN-004 which is designed to protect the gut microbiome
from the effects of certain commonly used intravenous (IV)
antibiotics for the prevention of C. difficile infection and
antibiotic-associated diarrhea (AAD), and SYN-010 which is intended
to reduce the impact of methane producing organisms in the gut
microbiome to treat the underlying cause of irritable bowel
syndrome with constipation (IBS-C). In addition, the Company is
developing a Phase 2 oral estriol drug for the treatment of
relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (MS) and cognitive
dysfunction in MS, and in collaboration with Intrexon Corporation
(NYSE: XON), a monoclonal antibody combination for the treatment of
Pertussis and biotherapeutics for the treatment of phenylketonuria
(PKU). For more information, please visit Synthetic Biologics'
website at www.syntheticbiologics.com.
About Intrexon Corporation
Intrexon Corporation (NYSE: XON) is Powering the Bioindustrial
Revolution with Better DNA™ to create biologically-based products
that improve the quality of life and the health of the planet. The
Company's integrated technology suite provides its partners across
diverse markets with industrial-scale design and development of
complex biological systems delivering unprecedented control,
quality, function, and performance of living cells. We call our
synthetic biology approach Better DNA®, and we invite
you to discover more at www.dna.com.
Trademarks
Intrexon, ActoBiotics, and Better DNA are trademarks of Intrexon
and/or its affiliates. Other names may be trademarks of their
respective owners.
Safe Harbor Statement
Some of the statements made in this press release are
forward-looking statements. In some cases forward-looking
statements can be identified by terminology such as "may,"
"should," "potential," "continue," "expects," "anticipates,"
"intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates," and similar
expressions. These statements are based upon current beliefs,
expectations and assumptions and are subject to a number of risks
and uncertainties, many of which are difficult to predict and
include statements regarding the plans to utilize Intrexon's
ActoBiotics™ platform to provide a proprietary method of delivering
therapeutic protein and peptides to the gastrointestinal tract
through food-grade microbes and the potential of a
biotherapeutics-based approach, in particular using
Intrexon's ActoBiotics™ platform, to provide relief for patients
managing PKU. These forward-looking statements are based upon our
current expectations and projections about future events and
generally relate to our plans, objectives and expectations for the
development of our business. Although management believes that the
plans and objectives reflected in or suggested by these
forward-looking statements are reasonable, all forward-looking
statements involve risks and uncertainties and actual future
results may be materially different from the plans, objectives and
expectations expressed in this press release.
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SOURCE Synthetic Biologics, Inc.