Recludix Pharma wants to squash the harmful effects that have plagued some JAK inhibitors and caused the FDA to tamper future hopes for the drug class by going after JAK's partner: STAT. The new biotech snagged $60 million for its attempt to create STAT inhibitor drugs to treat cancers and inflammatory diseases.
Leading the way is Nancy Whiting, a 15-year Seagen executive, most recently an executive vice president of corporate strategy, who joined the startup in September. Whiting was a 2020 Fiercest Women in Life Sciences. This year's awardees were revealed today.
The series A will bankroll inhibitors of STAT3 and STAT6, and a third, non-STAT asset, the biotech said Monday. On the agenda: creating small molecules to treat multiple leukemias, lymphomas, solid tumors, rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, atopic dermatitis and inflammatory bowel disease.
That plateful of prospects is led by two programs targeting STAT3 and STAT6, given the role of STAT activation in multiple cancers and inflammatory diseases. The STAT family has "long been recognized" as containing potential targets, but the group has been painted as an "undruggable" cohort, Whiting said in an interview with Fierce Biotech.
SPECIAL REPORT: 2020 Fiercest Women in Life Sciences | Nancy Whiting
"[B]ecause JAK partners with STAT, we see that essentially in inflammatory diseases, we’ve got a lot of opportunity to improve upon the existing standard of JAK inhibition," Whiting said. By targeting STAT, Recludix sees promise in more selective and more specific inhibition, which leads to better tolerability and a greater chance of higher efficacy, the CEO said.
The JAK class has run into a handful of road bumps lately, including multiple delays to FDA regulatory decisions. The agency relegated several approved drugs to second-line treatment in early September and also expanded the safety warnings on three rheumatoid arthritis drugs already on the market—Pfizer's Xeljanz, Eli Lilly's Olumiant and AbbVie's Rinvoq.
Whiting declined to elaborate on timelines for when the young biotech could move into the clinic with its lead programs. The company will boast 32 employees by year's end and hire another 16 or so next year, she said.
The biotech was formed by Blueprint Medicines scientific co-founder Patrick Zarrinkar, Ph.D., who is president and chief scientific officer. Other co-founders include VP of Chemistry Brian Hodous, Ph.D., who contributed to Blueprint's approved drug Ayvakit, for a certain gastrointestinal tumor, and VP of Discovery Technology Daniel Treiber, Ph.D.
Investors include NEA, Westlake Village BioPartners and Access Industries.