Protein Engineering Network of Centres of Excellence - PENCE Inc.

Converzyme Inc.: Right on target

Converzyme Inc. is a leading-edge, drug-discovery company that has some significant disease targets in its sights. And that is giving hope to millions of Canadians who suffer from Alzheimer's disease, coronary restenosis, cancer metatasis, type II diabetes and other diseases. The development of real therapeutic treatments could have tremendous and lasting benefits for all Canadians, including longer and better quality of life and reduced health care costs.

Converzyme was established in 2000 specifically to build on ground-breaking work on proprotein convertases (PCs) by Dr. Nabil Seidah of the Institut de recherches cliniques de Montréal (IRCM) and Dr. Michel Chrétien of the Ottawa Health Research Institute (OHRI). The researchers and the institutions are members of the Canadian Protein Engineering Network Centre of Excellence (PENCE).

Present in all cells, PCs act as the "on" button to many important processes in our bodies – the good ones such as the creation of hormones like insulin, brain substances like endorphins and the growth factors that most organs need to develop. However, PCs can also trigger bad processes, leading to the development of pathologies or diseases. In their research, Drs. Seidah and Chrétien have been able to identify and characterize 6 of the 8 known convertase family members.

With the identification of those "target" convertases, the creation of Converzyme was the logical next step. "Taking the work out of the academic lab and into a commercial one changes the focus from 'discovery' research to 'developmental' research," says Dr. Jim Cromlish, President of Converzyme. The company's first job is target validation, asking and answering the question: If we do inhibit this convertase in this disease, will it have the desired effect. From there, the ultimate goal is to develop targeted inhibitors that can keep the key convertases in the "off" position.

Converzyme plans to have its first-round investment completed in the fall of 2001 and will soon begin a preclinical small molecule inhibitor development program to complement the company's development of novel protein-based protease inhibitors as target validation tools. Its goal is to have clinical trials of new drug treatments for some of their targets under way within four years.

PENCE research funding, business development expertise and network-driven collaboration were instrumental to the research and played an important role in the creation of Converzyme. "They introduced us to the concept of commercializing biotechnology and steered us in the right direction," says Dr. Cromlish. "They were also able to offer momentum to this initiative by actively coordinating the efforts of the IRCM and the OHRI, as well as bringing in the expertise of the National Research Council's Biotechnology Research Institute."

PENCE is one of 20 federally funded Networks of Centres of Excellence, the objectives of which are to enhance the Canadian economy and our quality of life. The program is funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), in partnership with Industry Canada.

To learn more about PENCE, visit www.pence.ualberta.ca.