Aurigene’s Dr. Gayathri Ramaswamy showcases exciting data on rapid design & synthesis of RIPK2 Degraders at DDC 2025

New Delhi: Aurigene Pharmaceutical Services Limited’s Global Head of Discovery Services, Dr. Gayathri Ramaswamy, Ph.D., delivered a presentation at the Discovery & Development Conference (DDC) 2025, held at the Hilton Bayfront, San Diego, on April 17, 2025.

Her talk, titled “Design and Rapid Synthesis of RIPK2 Degraders Using an In-House Partial PROTAC Library,” spotlighted Aurigene’s innovative approach to developing targeted protein degraders and its applications for drug discovery.

Advancing PROTAC Science for Next-Generation Therapeutics

PROteolysis TArgeting Chimeras (PROTACs) are heterobifunctional molecules that exploit the body’s natural disposal mechanism to selectively degrade proteins of interest (POI). By recruiting the target protein to the Ubiquitin Proteasome System (UPS), PROTACs facilitate its degradation, offering a promising therapeutic approach for diseases such as cancer, autoimmune disorders, and neurodegenerative conditions.

At DDC 2025, a premier event uniting North American biopharma decision-makers and innovators, Dr. Ramaswamy shared insights into the design and rapid synthesis of novel RIPK2 degraders leveraging Aurigene’s proprietary partial PROTAC library. Her presentation highlighted the potential of these molecules to accelerate drug discovery by enabling targeted protein degradation with enhanced specificity and efficiency.

RIPK2 (Receptor-interacting serine/threonine protein kinase 2) is a critical immunomodulator implicated in NOD1, NOD2, and TLR signaling pathways, with elevated expression linked to certain tumors. Targeting RIPK2 for degradation using PROTACs offers a compelling therapeutic rationale for novel immunotherapies.

Looking Ahead: AI-Powered Discovery (Aurigene.ai)

Summarizing the impact, Dr. Gayathri noted, “Our in-house partial PROTAC library, coupled with computational design and integrated profiling, enables us to rapidly generate and optimize novel degraders like NB1-033-P. These advances have the potential to accelerate identification and development of specific targeted protein degraders for multiple disease indications.”

Aurigene’s next steps include leveraging the Aurigene.ai platform to design new RIPK2 degraders and inhibitors & synthesize using in-house partial PROTAC library, with a focus on rapid profiling and IP generation, followed by In-vitro, In-vivo and ADME/PK of synthesized degraders.