AGT competes in global arena

The publication of a paper on the three dimensional structure of a protein discovered and patented by Victorian company AGT Biosciences by scientists at a major pharmaceutical company last week was a wake-up call that AGT was competitive in the global arena, CEO Prof Greg Collier told Australian Biotechnology News today.

The paper, published in the July issue of Protein Science by scientists working at Abbott Laboratories, confirmed that Beacon selectively binds to cyclin-like kinase CLK4, and suggested that the protein had an important functional role. Previously, AGT has demonstrated that Beacon is associated with body fat regulation. The protein is a possible target for the development of anti-obesity therapeutics.

"This is very exciting. We have one granted patent for Beacon and two applications for ligands to the protein pending. Given the strength of our IP position we welcome value-add research from both academic and industry groups. It is pleasing to note that the conclusions reached by the Abbott Laboratories team are consistent with data we have previously published," Collier said.

Collier said that at this point it wasn't clear whether Abbott Laboratories even knew that AGT had been granted a US patent on the Beacon protein. "We'll obviously be in discussions with Abbott about this, but there is no need to hurry at this point," he said. But the fact that the company was working on three-dimensional structures suggested that Abbott was interested in developing drugs to specifically target the protein.

At present, the company has one licensing agreement for Beacon, with European pharmaceutical company Merck-Sant, who is pursuing the development of therapeutics based on the protein. But as Collier says, there is flexibility in the agreement for more than one company to work on the protein. He noted that the company would explore Abbott's interest in the protein, whether it was interested in competing with Merck and AGT, or collaborating with them.