Dewpoint Therapeutics Inc. announced the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issued the patent “Methods of Characterizing Condensate-Associated Characteristics of Compounds and Uses Thereof” (U.S. Patent No. 11493519) covering novel technology for partitioning and identifying compounds which preferentially partition into condensates of interest.
Biomolecular condensates are molecular assemblies that form by a process called phase separation, similar to the separation of oil from water. Various condensates are known to be important for modulating cellular processes and regulating many diverse functions of the cell, from controlling biochemical reaction rates to compartmentalizing proteins and nucleic acids into orchestrated transcriptional machinery. Aberrant condensate function has also been linked to human diseases, including neurodegeneration and cancers. Condensate science holds broad promise for both understanding the origin of diseases and the discovery of breakthrough treatments.
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Little has been known about the mechanisms governing the partitioning of compounds into condensates, how to design and test compounds to improve interactions with condensates, and how such information can be used to improve treatment of diseases.
Dewpoint’s issued patent is the first patented technology for measuring how a compound is entering or partitioning into a target condensate. This breakthrough technology will direct a compound to selectively target a single molecule in a condensate to alter disease.
“Dewpoint’s technology has broad implications for drug discovery and maximizing the effectiveness of medicines,” said Isaac Klein, M.D., Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer at Dewpoint. “It opens a new era of ‘condensate-targeted’ drug discovery by enabling us to direct a molecule to a condensate of interest. This can influence the activity of a drug by altering its local subcellular concentration, and thereby, its efficacy. It’s a new way of thinking about medicinal chemistry and lead optimization with the potential to improve drug efficacy.”
In May 2022, Dewpoint was granted a foundational platform technology patent by the USPTO, for technology that identifies molecules which alter specific components of biomolecular condensates with high precision. Together, these patents claim technology that is critical for the discovery of new compounds that can be used to disrupt a condensate in a specific way to correct aberrant cellular functions and hold vast therapeutic potential.