Our Science

ACEA leverages its drug discovery platform, unique expertise in real-time cell analysis, a one million+ compound library, and computer aided drug design (CADD) to evaluate and identify compounds with best-in-class therapeutic potential. Our comprehensive  drug discovery platform of small and large molecule and cell therapies has generated multiple novel and proprietary new entities which are currently at preclinical and clinical stage development for the treatment of cancer, COVID-19, and autoimmune diseases.

Cancer Research

In recent years, our understanding of diseases has been transformed. For example, tumors sharing the same origin are now known to comprise an array of diseases with varying molecular ‘fingerprints’ which result in different disease characteristics and responsiveness to treatments. Together with technological advances, targeted therapy is a new generation of precision medicine meeting individual patient’s need.

targeted-therapy

Targeted Therapy:

  • Small molecule treatments work inside the cell
  • Kills tumor cells while preserving healthy cells
  • Tend to be more efficacious than chemotherapy with fewer drug-related side effects
  • Biomarker-driven patient selection increases the likelihood of responding to therapy

Autoimmune Disease Research:

Autoimmune diseases affect 3-5% of human population. Although the exact causes of most autoimmune diseases remain unknown, both genetic and environmental factors play a role in disease development. ACEA research focuses on identifying treatments that can target genes known to be associated with autoimmune diseases.

COVID-19

COVID-19 is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). It poses a serious threat to global public health. Efficacies of vaccines and antibody drugs are frequently decreased or diminished by the emergence of new SARS-CoV-2 variants of concerns (VOCs) harboring mutations in Spike protein.

ACEA has identified a small heterocyclic molecule, Olgotrelvir which potently inhibits the conserved main protease required for SARS-CoV-2 replication and human cathepsin L utilized by SARS-CoV-2 for the entry into host cells.  Based on these properties, Olgotrelvir displays a wide spectrum of antiviral activities against SARS-CoV-2 VOCs.

Olgotrelvir is currently developed as a standalone oral drug for the treatment of COVID-19 and potentially other viral infections.

Jeong, G. U., et al. (2020). “Therapeutic Strategies Against COVID-19 and Structural Characterization of SARS-CoV-2: A Review.” Frontiers in Microbiology 11(1723).

For more information on our on-going pre-clinical and clinical programs, please visit our pipeline.