Key points from article :
Covalent Biosciences, a biotech company developing catalytic antibodies, is shutting down after failing to secure funding to take its platform into clinical trials. Catalytic antibodies are a powerful type of therapy that, unlike conventional antibodies, can act repeatedly on multiple target molecules. The company had aimed to use this approach to treat diseases like transthyretin amyloidosis and Alzheimer’s, but its efforts will now move into the public domain as patents expire and unpublished findings are prepared for release.
The shutdown highlights the harsh realities of biotech investment. Investors tend to avoid high-risk, novel therapies, preferring slight modifications of existing, proven drugs. In Covalent’s case, interest in their disease targets had already shifted: new drugs for transthyretin amyloidosis had proven effective, and Alzheimer’s research was dominated by large pharmaceutical companies developing amyloid-targeting antibodies.
Another key problem was timing. Much of Covalent’s intellectual property was nearing the end of its 20-year patent life, reducing the potential for exclusivity that investors rely on to justify large financial commitments. Without strong patent protection, even highly promising therapies struggle to attract backing due to the immense cost of drug development and clinical trials.
While the catalytic antibody platform may eventually be revived, it will likely require fresh innovation to restart the patent clock and draw investor interest. This case reflects a broader flaw in the current biomedical innovation system, where market forces—not scientific potential—often determine what treatments make it to patients.
