SMARTOX

Smartox Biotechnology is specialized in supplying biological materials issued from animal venom. The company transforms crude venoms into peptide collections dedicated to drug discovery programs and manufactures chemically most promising ones. Animal venom originating from over 170.000 species are complex molecular mixtures each containing several hundred peptide toxins; representing a natural reservoir of over 40 million biologicaly active molecules. These compounds demonstrate invaluable pharmacological properties and are highly stable due to their unusual tri-dimensional structure that usually involves complex disulfide-bridge patterns. This natural resource is largely under-exploited and, less than 2000 peptide toxins have currently been identified and characterized. In spite of this small number, these compounds have led to the clinical exploitation of seven drugs (Ziconotide, Exenatide, Captopril, Eptifibatide, Tirofiban, Batroxobin) and dozens of other natural peptides are currently in development. It is therefore reasonable to claim that, compared to classical chemical libraries used in drug discovery programs; venoms have a far greater success rate as a source of innovative drugs. Venoms constitute highly enriched mini-libraries of pre-optimized peptides that preferentially target ion channels, GPCRs and several other membrane receptors. The company is looking for partners in drug discovery to run drug discovery programs using the Smartox’s venom peptide collection and expertise.