OMass Therapeutics, a biotechnology company identifying medicines against highly validated target ecosystems, has won the Oxford Science Park Innovation Award at the Oxfordshire Business Awards.
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OMass Therapeutics received the Oxford Science Park Innovation Award in recognition of its recent progress in the search for new drugs against inadequately drugged or intractable targets.
Originally spun out of Oxford University, OMass has commercialised Professor Dame Carol Robinson’s research in native mass spectrometry to develop its drug discovery platform, OdyssION. The platform integrates novel biochemistry techniques, next-generation native mass spectrometry, and custom chemistry, to allow for the interrogation of protein interactions within its native ecosystem while avoiding the confounding complexity of the cell.
The platform can discover drug binders with high sensitivity without filtering on activity, establishing an unambiguous link between binding and function to drive smart lead optimisation, and identifies natural allosteric sites that can be targeted for drug discovery.
OMass’s current pipeline is focused on developing an insurmountable antagonist of the MC2 receptor for congenital adrenal hyperplasia, a gasdermin D inhibitor for the treatment of inflammatory diseases, a GPR65 agonist for the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease and two earlier-stage programs targeting solute carriers.
Rory Maw, CEO of The Oxford Science Park and part of the Oxfordshire Business Awards judging panel, said: “The judges were impressed by the exciting portfolio of drug candidates OMass Therapeutics has discovered, based on unique technology from the University of Oxford. They hold significant potential in the treatment of rare and immunological diseases, as recognised by investors in the company’s $100 million Series B fundraising earlier this year.”
Ros Deegan, chief executive officer of OMass Therapeutics, added: “We are very proud to be part of the Oxfordshire innovation hub and are honoured to have received this year’s Innovation Award. We have made great progress over the last year and this award is a recognition of the benefits our innovative platform OdyssION has in the search for better therapeutics for patients with immunological and rare diseases.”