Our primary technology is based on our proprietary recombinant human PH20 (rHuPH20) enzyme, a human synthetic version of hyaluronidase that degrades hyaluronan, or HA. Hyaluronan is a naturally occurring space-filling, gel-like substance that is a major component of normal tissues throughout the body, such as skin and cartilage, and abnormal tissues, such as tumors. The PH20 enzyme is a naturally occurring enzyme that temporarily degrades HA, thereby facilitating the penetration and diffusion of other drugs and fluids that are injected under the skin. Our proprietary rHuPH20 technology may be applied to numerous therapeutic categories to expand existing markets and to create new ones for our own proprietary products. The technology may also be applied to the products of other companies through partnerships or licensing agreements.
Our early stage research activities continue to explore the Matrix for unique proteins and approaches in the discovery of innovative therapies. We believe the Matrix is a target rich environment for biologic leads. One direction of increasing focus for Halozyme is the development of conditionally active biologics, or CABs. These CABs offer a unique way to provide treatment solutions to medical conditions that may be safer and more effective. They are designed to interact with their targets under highly specific, predefined conditions in the body. For example, HTI-501, an enzyme that degrades collagen, is active only in slightly acidic conditions. We believe that by injecting the agent in a mildly acidic formulation, HTI-501 will only produce a therapeutic effect at the site of injection until the body normalizes the injection site back to neutral physiologic pH.
This is just one example of how Halozyme’s early stage research is using the Matrix to indentify paths for new molecular entities that will result in unique and better treatments for patients. The quest for additional CABs may lead to a portfolio of highly specific therapeutic proteins for the treatment of a broad range of medical conditions.
