In the last decade, antibody-based drugs have provided treatments for allergies, infectious diseases, cancers, and autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis. But antibodies are large molecules, expensive to manufacture and tricky to maintain, requiring refrigerated storage. And extensive patent protections tie the hands of drug companies that want to expand their use.

Now researchers at biotech startup Avidia, in Mountain View, CA, have engineered a new class of proteins they call "avimers," which the company says are easier to make and store -- and require fewer lawyers to bring to market. Avidia scientists have shown that an avimer designed to inhibit human interleukin-6 (IL-6) -- a protein implicated in rheumatoid arthritis and Crohn's disease -- works in mice. Avidia plans to move the avimer into human trials later this year.