Nordic Life Science 1
T E X T b y M AL IN O T M ANI C OL L ABOR AT ION
Gesynta Pharma founders Ralf Morgenstern, Per-Johan Jakobsson, Patric Stenberg, Gunilla Ekström, Charlotte Edenius, Urban Paulsson. Gunilla Osswald, CEO, BioArctic signed Gesynta to fund continued development of lead candidate GS-248 in systemic sclerosis patients. Following a successful Phase I study recently reported at EULAR2020, this inhibitor of microsomal prostaglandin E synthase-1 (mPGES-1) is now scheduled to enter a multi-center Phase IIa study in Q4, 2020.GS-248 provides both anti-inflammatory and vasodilatory effects and has the potential to become a new efficacious treatment for the microvascular dysfunction that leads to both pain and ulcerations due to poor blood flow in small vessels, which systemic sclerosis patients suffer from. “We believe mPGES-1 is an exciting, firstin-class target in systemic sclerosis and other diseases with significant unmet needs in which there is coincidence of inflammation and vasoconstriction. As such, we are delighted that GS248 has successfully completed Phase 1 studies and is ready for Phase IIa development in patients,” says Roger Franklin of Hadean Ventures, who will join Gesynta’s board. a research collaboration agreement with the Institute of Clinical Medicine (IKM) to increase the understanding of Apolipoprotein E (ApoE) as a drug target for Alzheimer’s disease. “The goal is that the collaboration will strengthen our research on ApoE as a target protein and will contribute to the development of a new treatment that can be used by itself or in combination with other therapies,” says Gunilla Osswald, CEO of BioArctic. The goals of the collaboration … has been raised by BioInvent and the money will be used to reach several near- and mid-term milestones, including early results from the Phase I open label study with the combination of BI-1206 and rituximab in indolent NHL during the second half of 2020. are to understand the mechanistic involvement of Apolipoprotein E in Alzheimer’s disease pathogenesis, and to generate pharmacological efficacy data with drug candidates. BioArctic will provide financial support for a two-year research position, with potential extension, and Professor Lars Nilsson at the Department of Pharmacology will be heading the research project at University of Oslo. NORDIC LIFE SCIENCE 9