Overview
Bicycle Therapeutics is developing a new class of medicines to treat cancer and other debilitating diseases. Bicycle Drug Conjugates are designed to rapidly and selectively penetrate the tumor, delivering toxins directly to where they are needed while minimizing exposure to normal tissue and associated toxicities. Bicyclic peptides (Bicycles®) are a new therapeutic modality combining the attributes of antibodies, small molecules and peptides within one molecule. Bicycles® exhibit the affinity and exquisite target specificity associated with antibodies. Their small size enables rapid and deep tissue penetration, allowing tissues and tumors to be targeted from within. Their peptidic nature provides a “tuneable” pharmacokinetic half-life and a renal route of clearance, thus avoiding the liver and gastrointestinal tract toxicity often seen with other drug modalities. Bicycles® can be used as stand-alone therapeutic entities or coupled to deliver a variety of therapeutic payloads; Bicycle Therapeutics’ initial focus is on Bicycle Drug Conjugates® (BDCs) that selectively deliver toxins to tumors. BDCs take advantage of Bicycles®’ inherent properties of high target specificity, fast penetration into the tumor and low systemic exposure, combined with rapid excretion of excess toxin via the kidney. The company is collaborating in oncology and in other areas to realize the full therapeutic potential of the Bicycle® technology.