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Explore the Future of
Protein
Conjugation

Imagine if you could...

ADC connected to a therapeutic

Take any antibody-drug conjugate and add additional therapeutic modalities

Antibody with functional cytokines attached

Take any antibody and attach functional cytokines

Cell attached to a protein

Attach a targeting protein to the surface of any cell without genetic editing

CatenaBio was founded to develop novel therapeutics by forming never-before-possible structures enabled by our technology, which can modify and combine proteins with complete freedom.

We have developed the CysTyr® platform utilizing the novel Catenase® enzyme, engineered to activate tyrosine residues with cysteine residues to form our proprietary C-Y Bond®.

Our platform redefines what therapeutics are possible, by removing longstanding limitations on the size, number, and type of molecules that can be attached to a single protein.

Imagine if you could...

ADC connected to a therapeutic

Take any antibody-drug conjugate and add additional therapeutic modalities

Take any antibody and attach functional cytokines

Antibody with functional cytokines attached
Cell attached to a protein

Attach a targeting protein to the surface of any cell without genetic editing

Imagine what CatenaBio could do for you.

Collaborate with us

Advantages of Our Innovative Platform

CatenaBio's technology is significantly differentiated from other approaches.

Simplicity – Conventionally purified proteins can be fused under gentle, physiological reaction conditions that maintain secondary structure and enzymatic activity. The only oxidizer is the oxygen dissolved in the reaction, eliminating the need for harsh reagents and extensive reaction cleanup.

Stability – The resulting covalent linkage between proteins is more stable than those made with maleimide chemistries.

Selectivity – The Catenase activation step leaves active-site residues intact, resulting in highly specific conjugations of proteins at defined positions and/or orientations.

Scalability – Partnerships with 2 large pharmaceutical companies have demonstrated gram quantity syntheses and linear scalability over a 30,000x range in production.

Simplicity Stability Selectivity Scalability

C-Y Bond

CysTyr Platform

Native amino acids in physiological conditions

Highly stable

Highly selective; specific conjugations

High yields and throughput

Artificial Amino Acids

Click Chemistry

Must reengineer metabolism of cells to incorporate artificial amino acids

Highly stable

Highly selective; must add artificial reactive group to both molecules in reaction

Significant barriers to production due to low yields and high cost to synthesize strained cyclooctyne reagents

Cysteine-X

Maleimide Chemistry

Difficult; can’t make protein-protein bonds

Not stable

Selective

Low yields

Lysine-X

Amide Bond

Unstable reagents

Highly stable

Not selective to specific lysine

Requires organic solvents

Any Protein—Many Configurations

CatenaBio’s technology lets you connect to any site on a protein just by moving the cysteine using the same tools that have been in use for decades. This allows for precise control of the geometry of your therapeutic.

A molecule with an inactivated n- or c-terminal tyrosine. When the molecule is combined with the Catenase enzyme, this process activates the tyrosine, making it available for bonding. Many bonds are possible. The image shows bonds of Cysteine 1, Cysteine 2, Cysteine 3, and Cysteine 4, all demonstrating different molecule conjugations with different molecules.

Proof of Principle

Explore our transformative publications.

See the latest

Modification of Cysteine-Substituted Antibodies Using Enzymatic Oxidative Coupling Reactions

February 14, 2023

Tyrosinase-Mediated Synthesis of Nanobody–Cell Conjugates

June 22, 2022

Synthesis of Multi-Protein Complexes through Charge-Directed Sequential Activation of Tyrosine Residues

August 12, 2021

See the latest