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Insilico Medicine CEO Alex Zhavoronkov
Insilico medicine
Insilico medicine announced results from a clinical trial of ISM001-055, which the company designed using generative AI to treat idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a chronic lung disease that affects about 100,000 Americans and makes breathing increasingly difficult as it progresses.
The Phase IIa trial, conducted in China, involved 71 patients who were randomized to receive either a placebo, a daily 30 mg pill, a twice-daily dose of a 30 mg pill, or a daily 60 mg pill. In all patients, most side effects were mild or moderate, the company said. Those who received the highest dose improved lung function compared to the placebo group. The 60 mg group also saw improvements in their quality of life.
The Cambridge-based company was founded in 2014 by CEO Alex Zhavoronkov and first published results on drug design and testing with its AI platform in 2019. Earlier this year, the company made published his methodology for developing ISM001-055 Nature Biotechnology. The company is currently enrolling patients in a US-based clinical trial.
These results highlight “the potential of generative AI and robotics to facilitate the discovery, design and development of innovative therapies,” Zhavoronkov said in the announcement.
Enveda begins a clinical trial for medicines from nature using AI
Enveda CEO Viswa Colluru
Enveda
Enveda from Colorado announced that clinical trials have begun with ENV-294, an oral anti-inflammatory agent for the treatment of atopic dermatitis. This is the first clinical trial for the startup, which launched its first seed round less than four years ago. The company’s approach is relatively unique: its AI models are trained on data derived from plants, which it uses to search for compounds that are potentially therapeutic. The company then refines those molecules to produce drugs.
The concept essentially returns medicine to its roots, CEO and co-founder Viswa Colluru said Forbes. “Our first drugs just came from compounds that worked in humans,” he said. “Morphine came from poppy seeds,” he noted, just as “we got aspirin from willow bark.”
Enveda is using modern computational biology to boost this effort, he explained. The company uses mass spectrometry to identify the chemical fingerprints of substances in biological samples, allowing them to quickly process samples without having to purify them. It then trained transformer models to interpret those spectra and predict molecular structures. “Think of it as Alphafold, but for chemicals,” Colluru said, allowing his company to “find leads for natural products without the historical bottlenecks.”
ENV-294 is derived from a molecule in a plant traditionally used for inflammation, Colluru said, but with a very different molecular pathway than that used by existing anti-inflammatories used for dermatitis or other inflammatory conditions, which can have serious side effects. The next step for the company is to complete its first clinical trial, which it said should take place early in the second quarter of next year.
Pipeline and deal updates
Heart disease: The FDA approved Johnson & Johnson’s Varipulse System for the treatment of atrial fibrillation, a condition that causes irregular heartbeats and other problems.
allergies: ARS Pharmaceuticals has entered into an agreement with Danish company ALK-Abelló for an exclusive licensing agreement for ARS’ nasal spray Neffy, which can be used to treat anaphylaxis, in Europe, Canada and other countries. ARS will receive an upfront payment of $145 million and will be eligible for $320 million in milestone payments, plus royalties.
AI for drug discovery: Genesis Therapeutics, which develops an AI platform for drug discovery, announced that Nvidia’s venture capital arm has made an equity investment in the company and will also work with Nvidia on the development of its AI platform.
Oncology: Alentis Therapeutics, which develops treatments for certain types of cancer, has announced that it has increased this a $181.4 million Series D round led by Orbimed, Novo Holdings and Jeito Capital.
Obesity: Metsera, which develops new treatments for obesity and metabolic diseases, has announced it has closed a $215 million Series B round. The company is currently conducting Phase 2 trials of its GLP-1 drug, which requires only monthly injections.
Parkinson’s disease: Discovery platform company Vesalius has entered into an agreement cooperation agreement with GSK to develop treatments for Parkinson’s disease. Under the deal, Vesalius will receive an upfront payment of $80 million and will be eligible for milestone payments of up to $570 million, plus royalties.
Computational discovery: Novartis has entered into a collaboration with Schrödinger to use the latter’s computational discovery platform to develop multiple drugs. Schrödinger will receive an upfront payment of $150 million and will be eligible for $2.3 billion in milestone payments, plus royalties.
Ozempic, Wegovy linked to lower hospital admissions in alcohol addicts, research shows
Corbis via Getty Images
Scientists in Finland and Sweden on Wednesday published the results of a study using 17 years of data that found more than 220,000 people had been diagnosed with alcohol use disorder and had either obesity or type 2 diabetes, conditions usually treated with glucagon- like peptides. 1 receptor drugs (GLP-1).
The study found that those who took semaglutide, the active ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovy, and liraglutide, the ingredient in Victoza, experienced decreased alcohol consumption and were less likely to be hospitalized for alcohol-related problems than their peers. Researchers cautioned that the study results should be interpreted “cautiously” and that clinical trials will be needed to find out whether the improved results were actually caused by the use of GLP-1 drugs.
Read more here.
Other healthcare news
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The CFS health path forward is becoming clearer and a rupture is unlikely
Many bird flu infections among dairy workers go unnoticed
Discount game played by PBMs and drug makers limits competition in biosimilars
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What else we read
How Lincare Became a Billion-Dollar Medicare Scofflaw (ProPublica)
How much power do Trump and Kennedy have to reform health care institutions? (Science)