Syntaxin is a UK-based private life sciences company pioneering the discovery and development of a new class of compounds to treat diseases in a range of therapeutic areas, through its expertise in the field of botulinum toxin biology.

The company has developed a differentiated expertise in the design, recombinant expression and purification of botulinum toxins and Targeted Secretion Inhibitors (TSIs). Beyond its focus on improving and expanding the use of current therapies, Syntaxin aims at discovering new treatments through the modification and retargeting of botulinum toxins.

Syntaxin has established a wealth of experience in botulinum biology supported by an extensive patent portfolio, with 75 granted patents and over 130 patents pending covering the platform and products.

The company owns dominant patents and know-how in the design, manufacture and use of novel cellular TSIs that are based on engineered botulinum toxins. Syntaxin'’s recombinant toxin and TSI proteins are biological molecules, synthesized in microbial cell culture.

It uses combinations of naturally occurring and engineered functional protein domains to create therapeutic proteins that bind selectively to chosen cell types and become internalised to deliver an endopeptidase into the cell cytoplasm.

The endopeptidase is a specialized enzyme that selectively breaks down a type of cellular protein called a SNARE (soluble N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor attachment protein receptor). SNARE proteins are located on secretory vesicles and on the inside-face of the cell membrane. They are needed for cells to release chemical messengers that they use to send and receive instructions from other cells. This process of releasing chemical messengers is called secretion.