The Perlan Project

Perlan Therapeutics was a biotechnology company based in San Diego, California, that specialized in the development of protein-based therapeutics for respiratory viral infections. The company's lead candidate, CFY196, was a multivalent Fab fusion protein designed to target the ICAM-1 receptor to prevent and treat the common cold caused by human rhinovirus. Perlan's core technology, the Multi-Valence platform, aimed to increase the binding avidity of protein-based drugs by creating multimeric antibody fragments. The company was involved in significant trade secret litigation with its founders, who left to form NexBio (now Ansun BioPharma), which ultimately hindered its development efforts. Perlan Therapeutics effectively ceased operations around 2010, and its assets were largely liquidated or abandoned.