Collaboration yields promising variolide therapy enteroserine
EpiEndo Pharmaceuticals, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, and AlveoliX, an innovator in organ-on-a-chip technology, announced significant progress in Project EpicoliX, a collaboration to develop new treatments for ulcerative colitis (UC).
The project, supported by Eurostars, the Icelandic Technology Development Fund and Innoswiss, identified the variolide compound enteroserin as a lead candidate for the first treatment of this class.
UC is a debilitating inflammatory bowel disease that affects a significant percentage of the population worldwide. Launched in May 2021, the EpicoliX project leverages AlveoliX’s organ-on-a-chip technology and EpiEndo’s expertise in chronic inflammatory diseases to address the urgent need for effective UC treatment.
Key outcomes of this project include the development of a novel gut-on-a-chip model simulating the colonic epithelium of UC patients, which played a key role in screening EpiEndo’s drug library and selecting enterotherin as the lead candidate.
The compound has undergone extensive preclinical testing, including in vivo studies, to validate its efficacy in strengthening the colonic epithelium.
Jennifer Kricker, Head of Research at EpiEndo, reflected: “Our collaboration with AlveoliX provides us with the opportunity to further research and develop our proprietary Barriolides as a potential treatment for UC.
“Using the gut-on-a-chip model to test new drug candidates offered significant advantages over preclinical in vivo model-only approaches. Both companies have a shared commitment to using innovative approaches to deliver therapies that address the root causes of chronic disease.”
Maria Beck, CEO of EpiEndo, added: “We are proud of what we have achieved so far in our quest to find new treatments for UC and would like to thank Eureka Eurostars, the Icelandic Technological Development Fund and Innosuisse for their support of our program. We look forward to finding partners to help us continue this exciting early preclinical project.”
The collaboration between EpiEndo and AlveoliX represents a promising step towards addressing unmet needs and improving quality of life for patients with UC.
