We are a biotechnology company dedicated to the research and development of innovative therapeutics for cancer patients with high unmet medical needs. Enzon’s drug-development programs utilize two platforms - Customized PEGylation Linker Technology (Customized Linker Technology®) and third-generation messenger RNA (mRNA)-targeting agents utilizing the Locked Nucleic Acid (LNA) technology. Enzon currently has four compounds in human clinical development and multiple novel mRNA antagonists in preclinical research. Enzon receives royalty revenues from licensing arrangements with other companies related to sales of products developed using its proprietary Customized Linker Technology.

PEGylation has successfully been used on various pharmaceutical compounds, including enzymes, peptides and antibodies, to improve their pharmaceutical properties. By attaching polyethylene glycol (PEG) to a pharmaceutical compound using a spectrum of stable and releasable linkers, our Customized Linker Technology has the potential to overcome pharmaceutical limitations for a broad universe of molecules and generate compounds with substantially enhanced therapeutic value over their unmodified forms. We continue to evaluate opportunities for utilizing our Customized Linker Technology platform for the development of new projects.

We also are using LNA technology to develop mRNA antagonists against novel oncology targets. LNA technology allows the development of very selective antagonists that act through the antisense RNase H principle. Drugs based on the antisense principle work by providing a synthetic short strand of nucleic acid (in this case, containing LNA residues) that will bind to the complementary mRNA stand. This leads to degradation of mRNA by RNase H.  Hence,there is no template to produce a protein. In pre-clinical studies, the LNA technology has been shown to provide mRNA antagonists with significantly enhanced binding affinity to complementary mRNA sequences, high potencies, long tissue half-lives, and the ability to control tumor growth. Notably, the LNA-based oligonucleotides are efficacious when prepared simply in saline (without any delivery vehicle) and administered intravenously.