Ministry of Education Science and Technology, Korea

A new article covering an overview and trends of plastic production and degradation technology using microorganisms has been published. Eco-friendly and sustainable plastic production and degradation technology using microorganisms as a core technology to achieve a plastic circular economy was presented. Plastic is one of the important materials in modern society, with approximately 460 million tons produced annually and with expected production reaching approximately 1.23 billion tons in 2060. However, since 1950, plastic waste totaling more than 6.3 billion tons has been generated, and it is believed that more than 140 million tons of plastic waste has accumulated in the aquatic environment. Recently, the seriousness of microplastic pollution has emerged, not only posing a risk to the marine ecosystem and human health, but also worsening global warming by inhibiting the activity of marine plankton, which play an important role in lowering the Earth's carbon dioxide concentration. KAIST President Kwang-Hyung Lee announced on December 11 that a research team under Distinguished Professor Sang Yup Lee of the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering had published a paper titled 'Sustainable production and degradation of plastics using microbes', which covers the latest technologies for producing plastics and processing waste plastics in an eco-friendly manner using microorganisms. As the international community moves to solve this plastic problem, various efforts are being made, including 175 countries participating to conclude a legally binding agreement with the goal of ending plastic pollution by 2024. Various technologies are being developed for sustainable plastic production and processing, and among them, biotechnology using microorganisms is attracting attention. Microorganisms have the ability to naturally produce or decompose certain compounds, and this ability is maximized through biotechnologies such as metabolic engineering and enzyme engineering to produce plastics from renewable biomass resources instead of fossil raw materials and to decompose waste plastics. Accordingly, the research team comprehensively analyzed the latest microorganism-based technologies for the sustainable production and decomposition of plastics and presented how they actually contribute to solving the plastic problem. Based on this, they presented limitations, prospects, and research directions of the technologies for achieving a circular economy for plastics. Microorganism-based technologies for various plastics range from widely used synthetic plastics such as polyethylene (PE) to promising bioplastics such as natural polymers derived from microorganisms (polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA)) that are completely biodegradable in the natural environment and do not pose a risk of microplastic generation. Commercialization statuses and latest technologies were also discussed. In addition, the technology to decompose these plastics using microorganisms and their enzymes and the upcycling technology to convert them into other useful compounds after decomposition were introduced, highlighting the competitiveness and potential of technology using microorganisms. First author So Young Choi, a research assistant professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at KAIST, said, "In the future, we will be able to easily find eco-friendly plastics made using microorganisms all around us," and corresponding author Distinguished Professor Sang Yup Lee said, "Plastic can be made more sustainable. It is important to use plastics responsibly to protect the environment and simultaneously achieve economic and social development through the new plastics industry, and we look forward to the improved performance of microbial metabolic engineering technology." This paper was published on November 30th in the online edition of Nature Microbiology. This research was conducted with the support from the Development of Platform Technologies of Microbial Cell Factories for the Next-Generation Biorefineries Project (2022M3J5A1056117) and the Development of Platform Technology for the Production of Novel Aromatic Bioplastic Using Microbial Cell Factories Project (2022M3J4A1053699) by the Korean Ministry of Science and ICT.

Certain diseases, including Alzheimer's, are currently considered 'undruggable' because traditional small molecule drugs can't interfere with the proteins responsible for the illnesses. But a new technique that specifically targets and breaks apart certain proteins -- rather than just interfering with them -- may offer a pathway toward treatment. Researchers have now designed a compound that targets and breaks down a post-translationally modified protein closely associated with Alzheimer's disease. Certain diseases, including Alzheimer's, are currently considered "undruggable" because traditional small molecule drugs can't interfere with the proteins responsible for the illnesses. But a new technique that specifically targets and breaks apart certain proteins -- rather than just interfering with them -- may offer a pathway toward treatment. Researchers reporting in ACS Central Science have, for the first time, designed a compound that targets and breaks down a posttranslationally modified protein closely associated with Alzheimer's disease. Researchers have been exploring targeted protein degradation (TPD) as a way to get at hard-to-treat proteins, namely, the ones for which inhibitors or other conventional techniques fail. Though these degraders have shown some initial promise, things can get complicated if the proteins go through "post-processing," or posttranslational modifications, after being formed. Thus far, no TPD technique has been able to target this type of protein. One protein that would be particularly advantageous to break down is p38, which is involved in several cellular signaling pathways and is linked to the development of Alzheimer's disease. Although previous attempts to treat the disease by focusing on p38 have been made -- including a drug candidate that went through two phases of clinical trials -- they suffered from off-target effects and limited efficacy. But like many proteins, p38 goes through posttranslational modifications, including phosphorylation, to form p-p38. This adds a phosphate group to the protein, activating it and changing its shape. By homing in on this form instead, the treatment could be made more specific. So, Nam-Jung Kim, Kyung-Soo Inn, Jong Kil Lee and colleagues wanted, for the first time, to create a protein degrader that could target and break down p-p38, and potentially offer a new avenue for treating Alzheimer's disease. The team screened several compounds specific for p-p38, eventually finding PRZ-18002, which selectively induced degradation of p-p38 over both similar proteins and its inactivated form. In fact, PRZ-18002 maintained its selectivity even when tested against 96 different protein kinases similar to p38. When delivered to the brains of mouse models of Alzheimer's disease, the compound downregulated the p38 pathway, improving cognitive abilities, including spatial reasoning, and disease-related brain chemistry, such as the accumulation of amyloid-beta plaques. The researchers say that this work could someday provide a novel treatment for Alzheimer's disease and open up opportunities for future treatments of other diseases that also involve modified proteins. The authors acknowledge funding from the National Research Foundation of the government of Korea (MSIT) and the Basic Research Laboratory Program and Medical Research Center Program of the National Research Foundation funded by the Korean Ministry of Science, ICT and Future.

Arctic Vision also licensed and is developing Eyenovia’s programs for pediatric progressive myopia (MicroPine) and pharmacologic mydriasis (MydCombi™) in Greater China and South KoreaNEW YORK, July 06, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Eyenovia, Inc. (NASDAQ: EYEN), an ophthalmic pharmaceutical technology company developing a pipeline of late-stage microdose array print (MAP™) therapeutics, today announced that its strategic partner, Arctic Vision, a China-based biotech company focused on innovative ophthalmic therapies, enrolled the first patient in its Phase 3 clinical trial of ARVN003 (MicroLine) for presbyopia. This marks the first time that a clinical trial has been approved in China to evaluate a pharmacologic treatment for presbyopia. In August 2020, Arctic Vision obtained from Eyenovia an exclusive license for the development and commercialization of ARVN003 (MicroLine) in Greater China and South Korea. The exclusive license agreement also included Eyenovia’s development-stage candidate for pediatric progressive myopia, MicroPine. Subsequent to this original agreement, Arctic Vision also licensed Eyenovia’s development-stage candidate for pharmacological mydriasis, MydCombi. Eyenovia is currently preparing a New Drug Application (NDA) to obtain marketing approval for MydCombi in the U.S. “We are very pleased that our partner, Arctic Vision, has achieved this significant milestone with the dosing of the first patient in its Phase 3 presbyopia program,” stated Dr. Sean Ianchulev, chief executive officer and chief medical officer of Eyenovia. “Presbyopia represents a significant and growing market opportunity in China and South Korea, driven by many of the same factors that we see here in the U.S. – most notably an aging population and a growing number of people looking for alternatives beyond reading glasses or surgery.” “In parallel, Arctic Vision continues work on its other two Eyenovia licensed programs - pediatric progressive myopia (MicroPine) and pharmacologic mydriasis (MydCombi™). Pediatric progressive myopia, in particular, represents a significant unmet need in China; the Ministry of Education estimates that nearly 53%1 of all Chinese children suffered from myopia in 2020, and 13 million children are estimated to be at highest risk. Taken together, through this partnership, we believe we have the opportunity to help millions of people while generating potentially significant sales royalties for our company, should one or more of these programs receive regulatory approval.” 1 Myopia Rate Among Chinese Children About Arctic VisionArctic Vision is a China-based ophthalmic biotech focusing on breakthrough therapies, with a leading portfolio covering pre-clinical stage to commercial stage products. Our vision is to provide innovative therapies in China, Asia and globally to address unmet clinical needs and benefit ophthalmic patients at large. Arctic Vision is supported by top-tier life sciences investors and led by an elite team of ophthalmic industry veterans with substantial regional and global experiences in R&D and commercialization of ophthalmic products. For more information, please visit https://www.arcticvision.com About Eyenovia, Inc.Eyenovia, Inc. (NASDAQ: EYEN) is an ophthalmic pharmaceutical technology company developing a pipeline of microdose array print (MAPTM) therapeutics. Eyenovia is currently focused on the late-stage development of microdosed medications for mydriasis, presbyopia and myopia progression. For more information, visit Eyenovia.com. The Eyenovia Corporate Information slide deck may be found at ir.eyenovia.com/events-and-presentations. Forward-Looking StatementsExcept for historical information, all of the statements, expectations and assumptions contained in this press release are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements that express our intentions, beliefs, expectations, strategies, predictions or any other statements relating to our future activities or other future events or conditions, including estimated market opportunities for our product candidates and platform technology. These statements are based on current expectations, estimates and projections about our business based, in part, on assumptions made by management. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Therefore, actual outcomes and results may, and in some cases are likely to, differ materially from what is expressed or forecasted in the forward-looking statements due to numerous factors discussed from time to time in documents which we file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. In addition, such statements could be affected by risks and uncertainties related to, among other things: risks of our clinical trials, including, but not limited to, the costs, design, initiation and enrollment (which could still be adversely impacted by COVID-19 and resulting social distancing), timing, progress and results of such trials; the timing of, and our ability to submit applications for, obtaining and maintaining regulatory approvals for our product candidates; the potential impacts of COVID-19 on our supply chain; the potential advantages of our product candidates and platform technology; the rate and degree of market acceptance and clinical utility of our product candidates; our estimates regarding the potential market opportunity for our product candidates; reliance on third parties to develop and commercialize our product candidates; the ability of us and our partners to timely develop, implement and maintain manufacturing, commercialization and marketing capabilities and strategies for our product candidates; intellectual property risks; changes in legal, regulatory and legislative environments in the markets in which we operate and the impact of these changes on our ability to obtain regulatory approval for our products; and our competitive position. Any forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made, and except as may be required under applicable securities laws, Eyenovia does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements. Eyenovia Contact:Eyenovia, Inc.John GandolfoChief Financial Officerjgandolfo@eyenovia.com Eyenovia Investor Contact:Eric RibnerLifeSci Advisors, LLCeric@lifesciadvisors.com(646) 751-4363 Eyenovia Media Contact:Eyenovia, Inc.Norbert LoweVice President, Commercial Operationsnlowe@eyenovia.com