Pangu BioPharma
Pangu BioPharma is a subsidiary of aTyr Pharma in Hong Kong. Pangu supports basic and translational research in tRNA synthetase biology in collaboration with the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST). Researchers, including experts in molecular biology, genetics and protein structure, have identified many naturally occurring splice variants of human amino-acyl tRNA synthetases and characterized their extracellular signaling functions. The Hong Kong government, through its Innovation and Technology Commission (ITC), has provided financial support for this collaborative work through a two-year grant.
The project is intended to develop a high-throughput platform for the development of bispecific antibodies with an initial focus on diseases in which Neuropilin-2 (NRP2) overexpression is strongly implicated, including cancer. In May 2021, we announced that Pangu and HKUST achieved the milestones set forth for the first year of the project. This included building out a highly skilled research team to establish an innovative antibody discovery platform at HKUST and the development and implementation of a novel single-cell antibody discovery approach which has so far yielded numerous candidate high-affinity NRP2/co-receptor antibodies that are currently being screened in functional assays. The second year of the project aims to identify the most productive pairings, optimize mid-scale production/purification and prioritize lead candidate bispecific antibodies based on activity in therapeutically relevant cell-based assays.