Spotlight (STLT) to Help Fund Breakthrough Drug Research
By Brian Marckx, CFA Spotlight Teams With Researchers Credited With Breakthrough Zika Drug Findings
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Researchers from Florida State University, Johns Hopkins University and the National Institutes of Health, interested in shortening time-to-market of a potential Zika therapy, looked at 6,000 drug compounds which had either already been approved by FDA or were in clinical trials and may have efficacy against the virus.
Led by a team including Dr.Hengli Tang, Professor of Biological Science at Florida State University, Guo-Li Ming of Johns Hopkins and Hongjun Song of the NIH, the scientists found two classes of drugs - one that hinders replication of the virus and another that prevents it from killing brain cells – has having promise in treating Zika.
They further identified that Nicolsamide, an already available drug used to fight tapeworm (and which has also shown promise against MRSA), as a potentially effective in suppressing Zika replication - it has also shown to be safe for pregnant women, an important attribute given Zika’s association with severe birth defects. Another compound, emricasan, which is being evaluated by Conatus Pharmaceuticals (CNAT) for the treatment of liver disease, was found to prevent Zika from killing brain cells.
The findings were published today (August 29) in the journal Nature Medicine. The researchers hope that by concentrating on already commercialized drugs and compounds in late stage development that their work will result in a Zika therapy that can rapidly come to market and help to head off the escalating spread of the virus. They expect to soon begin animal testing of these drugs.
And Spotlight Innovation (STLT) will be involved with helping to fund the related research – which STLT announced in a recent press release (http://prn.to/2bMD7Oh), noting that they have entered into a Sponsored Research Agreement with Florida State University to support Dr. Tang’s research into development of drugs to fight Zika. While the press release did not provide specifics of terms of the agreement, Geoffrey Laff, STLT’s V.P. of Scientific Strategy, notes in an article published today in the Wall Street Journal (http://on.wsj.com/2bw1PBF) that, it “amounts to several years of funding.”
Dr. Laff joined Spotlight in July. Other recent events include progress with establishment of a drug production facility and further development progress of Immunoplex in cancer therapeutics.
Dr. Laff, who joined Spotlight in July, is responsible for STLT’s R&D strategy, evaluation of new potential acquisitions and will assist with clinical management. He brings ~20 years of experience in drug development, biotechnology, drug research and healthcare-related investment. His industry work has largely focused on oncology and immunotherapy - Spotlight’s therapeutic focus area – and has involved advising large pharma including Pfizer (PFE), Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY), Sanofi (SNY) and Boehringer Ingelheim. Dr’ Laff’s full bio (from STLT’s July 14th press release is below).
Dr. Laff is a life sciences industry veteran with nearly 20 years of experience in healthcare venture capital, public equity investment, biotechnology, drug development, market research, and medical communications. Specializing in oncology and immunology, he has advised leading pharmaceutical companies including Pfizer, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Sanofi and Boehringer Ingelheim.
After earning a B.S. in Biology and a Ph.D. in Molecular Cell Biology from Yale University, Dr. Laff was a postdoctoral research fellow at Harvard Medical School. While at Yale he received the Sterling Prize Fellowship and the Dwight Hall Humanitarian Service Award.
Drug Production and Drug Development Facility…
In June STLT announced that it was in the process of finalizing an agreement with Maitland Labs, of Orlando, FL, to establish cGMP drug production and product development facilities at Maitland’s sterile fill production plant. STLT noted that they expected construction would be completed and the facility operational by September. Spotlight will use the facility to support production requirements of its preclinical and (expected future) clinical trials of its immunotherapy candidates.
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