Allostera Pharma

About Allostera Pharma

Allostera Pharma Inc. was a biopharmaceutical firm established in Montreal, Canada, in December 2005. The company was founded by Dr. Sylvain Chemtob and Christiane Quiniou to advance research they undertook at a University of Montreal affiliated hospital. The firm focused on creating a new class of pre-clinical, orally available drugs called Allosteramers™ for inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. According to company information, Allostera Pharma is now out of business.

The company's core technology was a proprietary platform named Module X, designed for the rapid discovery of Allosteramers™ against new therapeutic targets. This technology worked by identifying structural regions of protein receptors and then designing peptide inhibitors based on that information. These inhibitors, known as allosteric modulators, bind to a receptor at a site different from the natural ligand's binding site. This mechanism allows the drug to block the receptor's signal without competing with the body's natural ligands, which could offer advantages in efficacy and safety. The resulting drug candidates were engineered to combine the specificity of monoclonal antibodies with the convenience of oral delivery typically associated with small molecules.

Allostera's business strategy centered on leveraging its Module X platform to build a pipeline of drug candidates and then pursue partnerships or an eventual sale of the company. The company's revenue model would have been based on milestone payments from pharmaceutical partners and royalties from licensed drug sales. In July 2009, Allostera secured a significant milestone with a Series A financing round of $17 million (CAD), equivalent to about $15.7 million (USD), from a syndicate of venture capital firms including iNovia Capital, Genesys Capital, BDC Venture Capital, and GO Capital. This funding was intended to advance its lead candidate, APG2305, into human clinical trials. APG2305 was an oral inhibitor of the IL23 receptor, a target for autoimmune diseases such as psoriasis, Crohn's disease, and rheumatoid arthritis. At the time of the financing, the company had a pipeline of seven Allosteramers™, with a primary focus on inflammatory conditions.