Profound Pharma A/S was a Danish company that discovered and developed 2nd generation biopharmaceutical

Biopharmaceutical

Biopharmaceuticals are medical drugs produced using biotechnology. They include proteins , nucleic acids and living microorganisms like virus and bacteria where the virulence of viruses and bacteria is reduced by the process of attenuation, they can be used for therapeutic or in vivo diagnostic...

s.

History

Created in Denmark in 1999 by Christian Karsten Hansen

Christian Karsten Hansen

Christian Karsten Hansen, PhD is a Danish biotechnology entrepreneur and inventor, with work in new drugs, molecular biology and biochemistry.- Personal background :...

 and Jan Møller Mikkelsen, formerly of Novo Nordisk

Novo Nordisk

Novo Nordisk manufactures and markets pharmaceutical products and services. Created in 1989 through a merger of two Danish companies dating back to the 1920s, it has become one of the world's leading companies in diabetes care, where Novo Nordisk pursues research into pulmonary delivery systems;...

, the company was funded by venture capital and a loan from Vækstfonden. After rapidly growing to employ 50 scientists, and filing large numbers of patent applications, the company was acquired by Maxygen

Maxygen

Maxygen Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing improved versions of protein drugs using DNA shuffling and other protein modification technologies...

 in 2000 for $60 mill. in stock. From its acquisition by Maxygen

Maxygen

Maxygen Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing improved versions of protein drugs using DNA shuffling and other protein modification technologies...

 until 2008, the company continued as a subsidiary of Maxygen

Maxygen

Maxygen Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing improved versions of protein drugs using DNA shuffling and other protein modification technologies...

 forming the cornerstone of its biopharmaceutical business, and contributing to Maxygen

Maxygen

Maxygen Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing improved versions of protein drugs using DNA shuffling and other protein modification technologies...

´s molecular breeding technology. With NeuroSearch

NeuroSearch

NeuroSearch is a Scandinavian biopharmaceutical company with its headquarters in Ballerup, Denmark and facilities in Gothenburg, Sweden. The primary activities of the company are focused on the discovery and development of new, unique pharmaceuticals that offer better treatment for patients with...

, Genmab

Genmab

Genmab A/S is a Danish biotechnology company, founded in February 1999 and based in Copenhagen. Internationally, it operates through the subsidiaries Genmab BV in Utrecht, The Netherlands, and Genmab, Inc in Princeton, New Jersey, USA. The Company is publicly traded on the NASDAQ OMX Copenhagen A/S...

 and Zealand Pharma, Profound Pharma was among the early members of the Medicon Valley biotech cluster. Its initial directors were Dr. Claus Bræstrup, Prof. Thue Schwartz and Knud Aunstrup.

Projects

Profound Pharma developed improved versions of interferon beta

Interferon type I

Human type I interferons comprise a vast and growing group of IFN proteins.All type I IFNs bind to a specific cell surface receptor complex known as the IFN-α receptor that consists of IFNAR1 and IFNAR2 chains....

, granulocyte colony-stimulating factor

Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor

Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor is a colony-stimulating factor hormone. G-CSF is also known as colony-stimulating factor 3 ....

, TNF inhibitor

TNF inhibitor

Tumor necrosis factor promotes the inflammatory response, which in turn causes many of the clinical problems associated with autoimmune disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, Crohn's disease, psoriasis, hidradenitis suppurativa and refractory asthma. These disorders are...

s, factor VII

Factor VII

Factor VII is one of the proteins that causes blood to clot in the coagulation cascade. It is an enzyme of the serine protease class. A recombinant form of human factor VIIa has U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval for uncontrolled bleeding in hemophilia patients...

 and other commercially important protein pharmaceuticals.

Technologies

Profound Pharma used a variety of protein engineering

Protein engineering

Protein engineering is the process of developing useful or valuable proteins. It is a young discipline, with much research taking place into the understanding of protein folding and recognition for protein design principles....

 and protein modification technologies including site-directed mutagenesis

Mutagenesis

Mutagenesis is a process by which the genetic information of an organism is changed in a stable manner, resulting in a mutation. It may occur spontaneously in nature, or as a result of exposure to mutagens. It can also be achieved experimentally using laboratory procedures...

, rational design, PEGylation

PEGylation

PEGylation is the process of covalent attachment of polyethylene glycol polymer chains to another molecule, normally a drug or therapeutic protein. PEGylation is routinely achieved by incubation of a reactive derivative of PEG with the target macromolecule...

, glycosylation

Glycosylation

Glycosylation is the reaction in which a carbohydrate, i.e. a glycosyl donor, is attached to a hydroxyl or other functional group of another molecule . In biology glycosylation refers to the enzymatic process that attaches glycans to proteins, lipids, or other organic molecules...

, and de-immunization. These technologies complemented the molecular breeding technology of Maxygen

Maxygen

Maxygen Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing improved versions of protein drugs using DNA shuffling and other protein modification technologies...

.