twoXAR Pharmaceuticals Presents Preclinical Data Demonstrating Positive Safety and Tolerability of Two Novel Lupus Drug Leads
Novel leads were identified in four weeks through twoXAR's proprietary AI platform and then evaluated through in vivo screening
Apr 21, 2020, 09:00 ET
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., April 21, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- twoXAR Pharmaceuticals, a company that discovers drugs with AI, today announced that two novel leads for the potential treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), TXR-711 and TXR-712, demonstrated significant efficacy and excellent tolerability in preclinical studies. TXR-711 and TXR-712 represent two different novel mechanisms of action in lupus or other autoimmune disorders. The overall timing to complete predictions, select hits and begin in vivo testing took a total of four weeks, significantly faster than traditional drug discovery processes. The data was accepted at the 12th European Lupus Congress and published in Lupus Science & Medicine. The full poster is available at www.twoxar.com.
"The safety and efficacy data on TXR-711 and TXR-712 validates that twoXAR's unbiased AI platform can effectively and rapidly identify novel drug leads that have high likelihood of being potential treatment candidates," stated Andrew A. Radin, co-founder and CEO of twoXAR. "We're excited about the progress we have made in identifying new targets for lupus to help address the high unmet needs for patients with SLE."
Lupus is a heterogeneous, systemic disease that affects millions of patients around the world and has presented unique challenges due to the complex nature and varying manifestations of the disease. In the last 50 years, lupus has only seen approval of one new therapy, demonstrating a significant need to identify new targets and treatments.
"Lupus is a highly unpredictable disease and despite a plethora of obvious targets, there has been little success in finding breakthrough treatments," stated Dr. Vibeke Strand, MD, MACR, FACP, Adjunct Clinical Professor in the Division of Immunology/Rheumatology professor at Stanford University School of Medicine and twoXAR advisor. "These data are exciting because they demonstrate that AI has the potential to help us identify novel targets and study novel MOAs more creatively, with the possibility of finding unexpected treatments."
In validation studies in the MRL/l mouse model, TXR-711 and TXR-712 demonstrated significant efficacy and acceptable tolerability, comparing favorably to cyclophosphamide, a treatment with safety limitations used for severe flares. Treatment with TXR-711 and TXR-712 also demonstrated improved renal function (decreased BUN and proteinuria) with decreased renal inflammation (improved histology and decreased inguinal lymph node weight) compared with control mice.
Ongoing studies with TXR-711 and TXR-712 include pharmacokinetic, pharmacodynamic, and additional MRL mouse efficacy studies. twoXAR is committed to advancing both promising leads with the ultimate goal of developing a new chemical entity (NCE) for treatment of SLE.
About Lupus
Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic relapsing, remitting autoimmune disorder that causes systemic inflammation which affects multiple organs including skin, joints, kidneys, lungs, heart and brain. Those living with SLE can experience a wide variety of symptoms, which often makes the condition difficult to diagnose. SLE flares can range from mild to severe and can be life threatening.
About twoXAR
twoXAR Pharmaceuticals is a company that discovers drugs with AI. The company identifies promising drug candidates, de-risks the opportunities through preclinical studies, and progresses candidates into the clinic through industry partnerships. Based in Mountain View, California, the twoXAR team includes experts in drug discovery and development, translational medicine, biomedical informatics, and artificial intelligence. Investors in twoXAR include SoftBank Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, OS Fund, CLI Ventures, and the Stanford-StartX Fund. For more information, please visit www.twoXAR.com.
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