Research & Development
Technology Profile
The technology underlying GlycoMar's products is based on our understanding of the fundamentals of natural products based drug discovery, glycobiology, and the therapeutic area of inflammation.
The original motivation for this approach is based on the drug heparin, a naturally occurring glycosaminoglycan, used for its anti-coagulant properties, but also now known to have extensive anti-inflammatory activity through numerous mechanisms. The complex and variable chemistry offered by this and other related molecules underpins the range of their actions (see Glycobiology section).
Our technology taps into this chemical diversity by sourcing compounds from environments which have both unique chemical, and therefore biological, activity profiles.
GlycoMar selects appropriate organisms and targets specific compound classes, predominantly glycosaminoglycans.
These compounds are isolated, purified and chemically characterised by analytical chromatography, di & monosaccaride analysis, FTIR and NMR.
Compounds with preferred chemical profiles are subject to a suite of biological cell-based assays, to confirm basic characteristics (eg. lack of cytotoxicity) as well as more specific activity related to anti-inflammatory disease applications (eg. anti-coagulation activity, effects on blood cell migration, immunogenicity, cytokine responses).
Compounds with suitable activity profiles have been selected based on the chemical and biological data, and put forward for in vivo testing and out-licensing.
GlycoMar's intends to rapidly generate lead compounds which address unmet market needs in drug discovery . Our library also contains products suitable for development as nutraceutical ingredients, and we are now adding microalgal products suitable for cosmeceutical development.