Our Science:Technology

Discovery Chemistry Design and High Throughput in silico/in vitro screening

Cascade has established a robust platform to design anti-complement drugs that target and inhibit the complement system at various levels.We rely upon a core set of chemical modifications to tailor the specificity, potency, and safety of our small molecules.  Cascade benefits from over 30 years of innovation and experience in drug design and discovery.  We have state of the art in silico protein modeling and drug docking technology to drive novel drug synthesis, and novel cell-based model systems to test activity and predict bioavailability.

Protein engineering and Gene Therapy 

 Cascade has state of the art in silico protein modeling and analysis technology to create superior biologics based on complement proteins. Our in silico platform uses advanced immunogenicity prediction using massive informational libraries of immunogenic motifs.  We have a full BL2 cell culture facility to create and test our therapeutic proteins.  Cascade has developed novel purified protein, cell-based and ex vivo model systems to test activity and predict bioavailability.  We are using cutting edge lentivirus technology in the development of our gene therapy agents.  Because the future of healthcare will likely involve multiple gene therapy interventions per individual, our lentiviral vectors provide a significant competitive advantage.  Lentivirus produces  minimal immune activation and allows for subsequent gene therapy treatments.  A single adenovirus gene therapy would produce an immune response to subsequent adenovirus treatments, thus making it practical only to give one treatment in a lifetime.