Aspira to distribute Nagase’s unnatural amino acids for next-generation drug candidate development

Produced using proprietary technology, Nagase’s unnatural amino acids are unique chiral building blocks for small molecule and peptide synthesis and can help overcome challenges in designing next-generation drug candidates. Aspira Scientific will hold a stock of these amino acids in North America for research and development purposes.

"Peptide drugs can suffer from poor in-vivo and oral bioavailability due to degradation by peptidases and acids," said Bradley Hilborn, director of business development at Nagase America.

"Unnatural amino acids can stabilize peptides to resist degradation, as well as potentially provide other benefits, such as improved target affinity and cell permeability. Several of our unnatural amino acids are reported to have medicinal properties either alone or as part of larger molecules."

With a stock of Nagase’s unnatural amino acids in the United States, Aspira Scientific will be able to quickly and efficiently support the needs of research and development groups in North America.

Nagase and Aspira Scientific also expect synergies in terms of technical support for customers regarding next-generation drug development.

"We are excited to offer Nagase’s portfolio of unnatural amino acids to research and development organizations in North America," said John Chan, CEO of Aspira Scientific.

"One of our core missions is to empower discoveries and breakthroughs in research and development through the availability of cutting-edge chemical tools."

Nagase’s unnatural amino acids include not only D-isomer amino acids but a variety of alpha Methyl substituted L- and D-amino acids.

They are manufactured using Nagase’s proprietary Maruoka Catalyst technology, an asymmetric phase transfer catalyst that exhibits high selectivity and reactivity, as well as contains no metals.

Nagase’s unnatural amino acids can be produced in large quantities necessary for active pharmaceutical ingredient production. In addition to unnatural amino acids, Nagase’s pharmaceutical portfolio includes excipients, ingredients for APIs, and in-vitro diagnostic reagents.