Sialix ultimately hopes to make it big by developing antibodies to treat cancer, a long and expensive development process, but in the short term thinks it has a faster path to revenue by leveraging its technology to develop nutritional products.

The company is focused on the potential for specific carbohydrate molecules found on proteins, sialic acid residues, to generate revenue in as soon as three years, while working on longer-term projects. The approach “gives investors a way to manage their risk,” says Jeff Behrens, president and CEO.

With two development programs, one focused on therapeutic monoclonal antibodies that target the unique sugar modifications found in solid tumors, such as ovarian, breast, and colon cancer, and a second focused on a nutritional product to reduce the chronic inflammation associated with eating a non-human sialic acid found in red meat, Sialix is determined to commercialize its expertise in the biology of sugar molecules.

The company currently has angel investors, a partnership with Momenta Pharmaceutical, and is a member of Janssen Labs’ life science innovation center at Janssen Research & Development’s West Coast Research Center. “Pharma is looking more for nutritional products to add to its pipeline,” says Behrens, adding, “but in the nutrition space, there are few examples of products supported by strong science.”

With the first in vivo pilot study already completed for the nutritional program, Behrens hopes for commercialization in three years. That’s much earlier than any therapeutic antibody would be ready to hit the market, if one makes it that far at all.