Biotechnology companies develop new therapeutic agents to treat deadly diseases
The University of Liverpool has announced it is launching a new biotechnology spin-out company, Galytx, to develop new therapeutics to treat cancer and fibrotic diseases.
The new company will focus on developing small molecule therapeutics against a highly clinically relevant molecular target: galectin-3, a carbohydrate-binding protein that is closely linked to the onset, progression and susceptibility of many deadly diseases, including cancer, fibrosis and inflammation.
Professor Lu-Gang Yu from the Institute of Systems, Molecular and Integrative Biology at the University of Liverpool is leading the research at the University of Liverpool, which has recently identified several non-carbohydrate, fully synthetic small molecule compounds as potent galectin-3 inhibitors that have shown great potential to be developed as novel galectin-3-targeted therapeutics for the treatment of deadly diseases.
“Galectin-3 is increasingly being recognized as a multifunctional, multimodal promoter not only of cancer but also of fibrosis-associated organ failure, including of the heart, lung and kidney,” Yu said, providing an “opportunity to develop a new class of drugs to treat these deadly diseases.”
Galytx will accelerate the therapeutic development of clinical and preclinical combination inhibitors, including repurposed drugs, to address significant unmet clinical needs in these disease areas.
Notably, its lead clinical asset, a repurposed drug, has a strong and established safety record when administered chronically, enabling an expedited clinical development pathway with the potential to be developed as an injectable treatment for acute use.
“Galytx is uniquely positioned to deliver the broad range of clinical benefits that we believe are possible by targeting galectin-3 in these disease areas that affect us all,” said Karen Sullivan, PhD, chief executive officer of Galytx.
“Having already approved medicines in our asset portfolio means we can realize these benefits sooner and with far less risk than our competitors.”
