Aridis Pharmaceuticals LLC
This article was originally published in Start Up
Executive Summary
Aridis Pharmaceuticals stabilizes proteins and other complex biological products, which typically must be refrigerated by encasing them in glassy matrices composed of sugar molecules that shield them from environmental stress. Recent studies reveal that high-frequency molecular vibrations that occur in the matrix can be transmitted to these packaged proteins, leading to changes in protein structure and loss of activity or, in the case of a vaccine, making them invisible to the immune system. To counter this, Aridis uses plasticizers to improve the formulations of existing drugs and vaccines.