Our Journey
Welcome to Sekkeibio
Driving Innovation in Drug Discovery
We started with the idea of establishing an innovation driven drug discovery organization in India. We are passionate about contributing towards addressing global unmet need. We received BIRAC Ignition Grant (BIG) in support of rationally designing novel insulin analogues conducive for oral delivery. The program enabled development of in-silico platform, Sq-PROT, our proprietary peptide & protein design tool that allows multi-parametric ligand design.
We have shortlisted three novel insulin lead candidates that are tolerant to gut enzyme degradation and found to be activite in mice and rats. A successful oral basal insulin will improve patient convenience and help early initiation of Insulin therapy, thus changing the treatment paradigm. It will be an important option for treatment of hypergycemia in Patients with Type 1 diabetes, Type 2 diabetes and cystic fibrosis.
To address the current ongoing epidemic related to opioid analgesics, and find effective therapy for diabetic neuropathy, we have designed a peptide non-opiate analgesic that targets multiple receptors. We have selected lead candidates active against all three targets with >1000-fold selectivity to the off-targets with considerable analgesic effects in animals. Use of Sq-PROT enables design of multi-targeted ligands and reduces cost & time of discovery.
Today, we have extended our research interests beyond small molecule and biologics to RNA therapeutics. We are building a circular mRNA platform as circular mRNA represents the most promising route to building next generation, cost-effective vaccines and drugs.
Our Journey
2017
- BIRAC Ignition Grant (BIG) received
- Operations established at CCAMP, Bangalore
2018
- Small molecules design platform Sq-SYNT establishedProtein/peptide design platform Sq-PROT initiated .
- Pichia expression system established
2019
- Operations established at IITM Bioincubator Chennai.
2020
- Protein/peptide design platform Sq-PROT established.
2021
- Linear mRNA technology established.
- Animal PoC (efficacy) obtained for first gen insulin and non-opiate analgesic.
- Money raised to (seed round) $200,000. ($2 mil) USD raised as Part of Series-A.
2022
- Circular mRNA technology established.
- Publication-: Mapping Structural Drivers of Insulin Recognition and Specificity Using Molecular Dynamics and Free Energy Calculations.
- Enzyme design established.
2017
- Incorporation
- INR (₹)5M Grant Received from BIRAC
2018
- Pichia expression system established
- Sq SYNT established for small molecule design
2019
Sq PROT established For biologics design
2020
Animal Proof of concept for novel biologics demonstrated
2021
- $2.0 M raised as part of Series A
- Linear mRNA technology established
2022
Proprietary circular RNA technology established
Monoclonal antibody delivered as RNA in human cells
2023
- Funded programs by Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
- Provisional filed for circular RNA
2024
And Beyond
- Collaboration established with pharma for oral incretin development
- PCT application filed for Circular RNA